Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:01 — 4.1MB)
PROGRAM D-7522
Most of us have enough respect for our bodies not to beat our heads against brick walls, right? And yet we may be inflicting suffering on ourselves in other ways that are even more harmful and foolish.
We saw how bitterness is always self-inflicted suffering. The second one on that list is self-pity. Have you had any pity parties lately? I’ve come to the conclusion that pity parties are pitiful! Why?
First, because almost always, pity parties cause us to waste time. Not long ago someone had hurt my feelings, and so I thought, “I’m not going to do anything tonight; I have a right to just do nothing and feel sorry for myself.” Then it dawned on me what was happening: The enemy was trying to hinder me by tempting me to throw a pity party. So, I said out loud to the enemy, “Not tonight; no sir, I’m not throwing a pity party tonight.”
Not only do pity parties waste our time, they also waste our energy. Self-pity drains you. It is, of course, a very emotional reaction, and you spend a lot of emotional energy when you are feeling sorry for yourself. That means you don’t have energy for other things that are important.
Another inevitable result of self-pity is that it affects our performance. We slow down, we lose motivation, we do our work halfheartedly—or, what often happens is we quit! In our jobs we may not have the luxury of quitting, so instead our work habits deteriorate. But I wonder how many church and volunteer positions have been resigned because of self-pity.
If you’re tired of the self-inflicted suffering of pity parties, here are some suggestions:
1- Change your attitude about pity parties.
Ask God to give you holy anger about pity parties, to see them as he sees them, and to get sick and tired of feeling sorry for yourself.
2- Refuse to think about the bad reports; think only about the good reports!
In Philippians 4:8 we are told to think about things that are of a good report. Usually when we are having a pity party, we are thinking about some bad report. It has helped me greatly to tell myself, “Mary, stop thinking about the bad reports. Think about some good reports.”
3- Think about Jesus and all that he endured.
Hebrews 12:2 says “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…” By a set of your will, stop thinking about poor me, and think about Jesus—fix your eyes on him. Think about how he suffered such awful indignity and pain for you, and you will be embarrassed to feel sorry for yourself when you compare your situation to his.