THEME: SELF
TOPIC: SELF-ABANDONMENT
TEACHER: OKPAN CLEOPAS (MINISTER)

INTRODUCTION:

“Self” has been noted as referring to a complete person with a distinct personality.  This distinct personality is composed of the body, soul, and spirit (1 Thess. 5:23). Each of the make-up of man is understood to be very useful to man’s existence because of the roles they play. In the light of this explanation on “self,” we will attempt in this lesson to explain what self-abandonment means, its negative and positive aspects, as well as how the Christian can maintain a proper balance.

UNDERSTANDING SELF-ABANDONMENT:

The word “abandon” means “to give up wholly; to surrender or yield oneself without restraint.” Since self refers to a complete person, self-abandonment, therefore, would mean “to wholly surrender oneself” to another or to something.  When this happens, the individual does not have much control over himself, since he is now bound by the influence of the external factor or force. He has willingly yielded himself to another; hence, he is under the control of that person to obey as a slave.  The Apostle Paul was very explicit on this matter.  He said “Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Rom. 6: 13, 16 NIV).

Our bodies can serve different purposes, good or bad. It all depends on the direction we yield ourselves to.  When we yield ourselves to evil, every part of our bodies becomes instrument of sin.  But when we yield ourselves to Christ, our bodies become instrument of righteousness. It is impossible to be neutral. Every person has a master; it is either God or the devil. No one can serve two masters (Matt. 6: 24).

NEGATIVE ASPECT OF SELF-ABANDONMENT:

It has been established that self-abandonment entails willingly yielding oneself to another.  The scripture makes it clear that to whom one yields himself as a slave, that is the one he must obey (Rom. 6:16).

Self-abandonment becomes bad and dangerous when it is done to produce sinful results.  This happens when one yields himself to the devil, to live according to the dictates of sin (Rom. 7: 5; 2 Pet. 2: 19; John 8: 34).  He then becomes the servant of the devil.  Hence, his actions, thoughts, and appearance are evil (Mark 7:21). The soul of this kind of person is starved of spiritual nourishment.

POSITIVE ASPECT OF SELF-ABANDONMENT

Self-abandonment is good and commendable when one yields himself willingly to God to do only His will (Matt. 7: 21). When this happens, he becomes an instrument of righteousness (Rom. 6:8).  This person will certainly manifest the spirit, mind, and attitude of Christ because he truly belongs to Him (Rom. 8: 9; Phil. 2: 5).  This kind of person will do the following:

  • He will love God honestly, and be ready to obey Him anytime, any day (John 4: 15; John 7: 21; Acts 5: 29).

2)         His services to God are devoid of selfish motive, but only to please God and for the growth of the kingdom (Col. 3:24; Eph. 6: 7; Rom. 12: 1). He will always be ready to go the extra mile, all to the glory of God.

3)         He gives sacrificially to God; nothing is kept back that should be given to Him.  This is because he understands that everything he has was given to him by God (1 Cor. 4: 7).

MAINTAINING A PROPER BALANCE

As children of God, we must not abandon ourselves to the devil and those things which pertain to worldliness (1 John 2: 15-17; Jas. 4: 4).  We must not allow sin to viciously control the way we live (Rom. 6: 12).  We must do all we can to mortify the flesh and its evil desires (Rom. 8: 13; Col. 3: 5). This can be achieved by doing the following:

  • Endeavour to properly identify personal weaknesses (2 Cor. 13: 5), and

stay away from those things which tempt us (1 Thess. 5: 22).

  • Practice self-control (Prov. 16: 32).
  • Lean on the strength and grace God provides (2 Cor. 12: 9).
  • Let God’s word guide the way we live and do things (Col. 3: 16).

CONCLUSION

The devil, through his control of the material affairs of this world (2 Cor. 4: 4), is presenting before us the sinful allurements of this world in order to trap us into his bondage of destruction. Let us not walk into his trap, but willingly commit ourselves to Him who is able to keep us for good.

Remain blessed!