We are considered “smart” if we eat a healthy diet, take time to exercise, get enough sleep, and respect laws that are made for our well-being, protection and the rights or others. Actually, we will do well if we adopt these behaviors because they reflect “God-care” - honoring the life that God has given us by respecting His ultimate act in creation - us. Caring for ourselves must not be considered as “self-centered” if we do what is necessary for our spiritual, mental and physical well-being as a means to honor God. Going beyond what is essential then becomes “self-worship” or “self-centered.”
Listen to Solomon: “He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers.” We honor God and benefit our own well-being if we invest our minds and hearts - our souls - in “getting” God’s wisdom. “Soul” as used here refers to the mind, emotions and will. And if our “souls” are filled with God’s wisdom, our thinking, feeling and choices will be controlled by Him. Our “life-choices,” choices that influence our spiritual, mental and physical well-being, will be in keeping with what God planned for us when He created us: to honor the Lord our God with every gift He planted within us!
When we accept our responsibility to “love our own soul” we adopt a healthy life style. We will make choices for ourselves that come from God’s Word and are not self-centered: they are God-centered. Personal well-being, then, does not come from ourselves or is for ourselves, but comes from God and is for God.
So, is “self-interest” right or wrong? If we focus on God and His wisdom, and use it to glorify Him with our “soul,” self-interest is critical. We do what we do as a means to honor and glorify God.
Prayer: Help us, Father, to be so committed to knowing and applying Your wisdom to our lives that Your interests become ours. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Scripture for Today: Proverbs 19:8 He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good.