You MUST Destroy This Fatal Habit

Estimated Read Time: 4 minutes, 24 seconds

Greetings my friend,

Welcome to The Arsenal, your weekly newsletter designed to train and equip you for a set-apart lifestyle.

If you’re reading this, you’ve already taken a big step in helping your future self. Whether you already consider yourself a self-disciplined and motivated person, or if you wish to become more like that persona, I’m hoping this newsletter will be an encouragement and benefit to you in helping reach your maximum potential. And thank you for being here, I’m so glad to have you.

For my first message to the world, it felt fitting to keep the format basic (albeit with a bit of a longer message) to ensure you’re prepared this journey by making sure you’re truly in the right mindset for success and changing for the better. I’m not sure what your background is or what’s motivated you to walk this path, but I need you to ask yourself an essential question – Do you want to be healed?

That may sound like a strange question to ask, but if you’ve read the Bible, you may recognize it. In John 5:6, our Messiah asked a man who had been sick for a very long time if he wanted to be healed of his sickness. While Jesus did still heal him, it begs the question: Why would He ask the man first? Surely someone who was sick would want healing, right?

As humans living in a fallen world, we’re constantly affected by sin and imperfection. As a result, we’ve all experienced emotional pain and turmoil from things that have happened to us and changed the course of our lives. But perhaps some of that distress was, or still is, self-inflicted by engaging in sinful activities and habits we’re not proud of. Many people, depending on the impact it’s had on their lives, can’t shake the fact they messed things up, lost opportunities, or ultimately, FAILED. As a result, they live in a subconscious state of regret that can be extremely damaging to their self-esteem and motivation to continue trying to grow and reach their full potential. And this can happen no matter if it’s something you still struggle with, or something that happened years ago.

What’s worse, this mentality often evolves into self-pity, where one begins seeking validation from others in order to cope with their low self-esteem. This habit is deceivingly lethal to our motivation to improve. Why? One of our deepest human desires is to be loved, validated, and respected by others. And constantly receiving comfort or validation from people around you makes us feel better about ourselves and fulfills that need, so our brain says, “Mission accomplished, everyone loves me!” At that point, what more do you need? You’re doing just fine in life, right?

With that in mind, imagine yourself as that self-loathing person, and you may begin to see another danger: Not only aren’t you addressing the real issue of your tarnished self-image, but this toxic behavior of constantly seeking some form of validation from those closest to you pushes away anyone who may genuinely care about your well-being and wish to help you out of a rut.

As counterintuitive as it sounds, this toxic, self-loathing behavior that leads to self-pity stems from deeply rooted pride. It often manifests itself as a voice that says you’re not worthy of your best life because you made a mistake(s) that hurt others and/or yourself, something who your perfect self, aka the person you and everyone else expects you to be, would never do.

YOU MUST REALIZE THIS: Romans 3:23 states all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, meaning even if your sin is greater than mine, without the blood of Messiah Yeshua covering us, you and I are no better off in the long run. And anyone who expects you to be perfect needs a dose of this same scripture too. Another key point to consider: Written by the wisest man to ever live, King Solomon of ancient Israel, Proverbs 11:2 states, “Pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.” This speaks an important truth we often neglect.

These scriptures’ application in this context is that you must understand you will continue to have failures in life. Even on your self-improvement journey, you may have discovered or will discover that you can’t stay 100% consistent in every area all the time. But perfection’s not the point of this journey. It’s to self-improve, not self-perfect. And there is much wisdom to be found in humbling yourself and learning from your mistakes.

With all this in mind, we return to Jesus’ question: Do you want to be healed? How badly do you wish to take that next step toward doing great things with your life? Are you willing to put your pride (and shame of your past or present reality) behind you, even if you’ve carried it for years? But I can’t take full credit for this idea - Jesus Himself also invites us to lay the regrets and negative perception of ourselves down. Matthew 11:28 reads, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Will you accept His invitation to emotional freedom that will give you the mental space you need to get in the game?

I will leave you with that. If you’ve made it this far, I hope this message has given you a new perspective on what you need to do to grow. In the meantime, I challenge you to perform some introspection and meditate on these few things:

· How deeply have your past or present mistakes affected your self-esteem? Which ones have hurt you the most? 

· What noticeable effects has your self-image had on yourself or your relationships?

· Lastly, what’s necessary for you to change any negative perception of yourself? Who can help you, and what resources are available?

Pride and despair are two of the Enemy’s greatest tools, and I think it’s no coincidence they often go hand in hand. I’ve seen it in my own life. My prayers go out to you, dear reader, that you will resist the devil. Because if you do, he will flee from you! (James 4:7).

Stand strong. And be blessed.