How Did We Get This Way?

In the 1970's the teaching of "self-esteem" was instituted in the school system in a big way. I remember children coming home from school, elementary grades, telling me that the school psychologist came in once a week to talk to the students.

I was never informed about it, very unhappy, I went to the school and opted out of the psychology class for our children but by then it was too late, they had already been well indoctrinated into this teaching.

In one session they were told to look into a box, in the box was a mirror. They were told that if they looked into the box they would see the most important person in the world.

They were told that they couldn't love anyone else until they first loved themselves. I refuted this teaching at home, but the children never listened to me because everyone around them was telling them they didn't have to listen to their mother. They would only listen to "the experts", the experts being their teachers and Sunday school teachers. Extended family was continually against what I wanted for my children and I had no one to back me up.

Most homes at that time had no one in them that was Christian in our community, those who went to church were being indoctrinated into this thinking too. I argued often with people who claimed to be "Christian", they defended the self-esteem teaching, ignoring and even battling against the Bible that taught "denial of self."

Those who claimed to be "Christian" all around the country were attending church as a matter of tradition rather than devotion to Christ. I am also convinced that many who attended church wanted to feel elevated in their own eyes, so they became proud of the knowledge they thought they had, while all the time defending worldly thinking, denying Christ by denying His principles.

I was raised with the attitude that we went to church because "it was the decent thing to do", rather than we go to worship a Holy God Who gave us life and deserves our worship. Most of those whom I knew that attended church were very proud of how good they thought they were.

As an adult, whenever I questioned the teachings in a gathering of Christians, I was shot down as rebellious because the "experts" were the teachers and no one should question them. After leaving the Catholic church I was met with the same mentality in the non-denominational churches as I saw in the Catholic church, it was rude or rebellious to counter anything the teachers said and they were all teaching "self-esteem" as a way of life.

It became harder and harder to find a church that taught the Biblical truth of denial of self, they had all bought into the self-esteem teaching to such a degree that most people were keeping a distance from me if not rejecting me entirely. Even those who said they didn't believe in self-esteem were raising their children with elements of it every day, claiming they weren't.

By this time, in all this mess, I was seen as someone to be avoided, excluded and mocked. Even in my presence the disrespect was immense. I say all this to show how rebellious our culture has been for many years, while getting worse all the time. No one will listen to Biblical truth, even those who claim to read the Bible have been indoctrinated into the evil of "self-love."

Now to correct or admonish anyone at any time, in any way, is met with anger and rebellion. Many if not most people consider it rude to rebuke, because they have been trained all their lives to be madly in love with themselves, they cannot endure any form of correction whatever, without becoming enraged.

2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,"

Proverbs 12:15 "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise."

We are now living in the times of the fools, those being people who love to think highly of themselves, but are destitute in their spirit.

What happens when a country refuses to acknowledge God?

Ezekiel 7:26 "'Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders."

Amos 8:11 ""Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD."

There are probably millions of Bibles in our land, even some of them are being read, but the people remain destitute in spirit, just reading it, knowing it and speaking about it, is enough for these people, they don't actually have a desire to obey any of it, they feel superior to anyone who would challenge them to question their own level of spirituality.

There is a famine, not because the Word of God doesn't exist, but because the people read, read and read some more and remain ignorant because they will not seek God in their reading. Their purpose for knowing the Bible is not to discover how to please and honor God but merely to become educated, for the purpose of elevating self.

2 Timothy 3:7 "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

1 Timothy 6:5 "Perverse disputing’s of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself."

Once again, another verse that tells us to withdraw from those who use knowledge as a means of self-exultation. These people cannot be reasoned with, they cannot be taught and will listen to nothing that does not make them look good.

Our reason for reading the Scriptures ought to be to learn the mind of Christ that we might be made more Holy by the Holy Spirit that lives in us. This takes humility, denial of self along with the deep desire to please Christ, not by our good deeds that make us look good, but rather by being changed in our hearts into a useful vessel that realizes we have nothing good to offer Christ, that He must work in us for His purposes.

Pride, arrogance and self-promotion have no place in the Believer's heart.

Revelation 3:17 "'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,"

Someone asked the question, "How did we get like this?", in reference to all this arrogance and rebellion in our country. The answer is quite simple, we stopped elevating Christ and His Words along with His principles, in favor of elevating self.