How do I wage war against myself, pity?

Michael, a listener from Portland wants help in the battle that he's facing.

Pastor John, thank you for this podcast.

I struggle with self-pity and often self-justify myself, pity by rationalizing it in my own head.

Have you experienced this too?

If so, what are the best arguments you've made from your own flesh to justify your

self-pity and what biblical arguments do you use to make war against those selfish arguments?

Pastor John, what would you say to Michael?

Well, Michael asked, have you ever experienced this?

So let me put my answer to his question in a autobiographical form.

Ten years ago, this year I took a leave of absence from the Zen pastoral ministry and

the reason I asked the elders on the church quite openly for this leave was to do what I

called a soul check.

And during that leave, I tried to be very specific in identifying my own characteristic

setting sins.

And it became evident that they were an ugly cluster of selfishness, proneness to anger,

self-pity, quickness to blame, soloneness, that's the cluster.

And at the root of that was what I call selfishness.

And selfishness had five reflexes that I could discern very clearly.

I'll tell you in a minute why I call them reflexes.

One, the reflex of expecting that I be served, thank you.

The reflex of feeling I am owed.

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