Artist: B. Morr
Song: Self Worship
Album: Self Denial

I've been there, you've been there, we've all been there. In one way or another, we all have a preeminent desire to want to please ourselves and make ourselves to be like gods. Adam and Eve started the whole process by partaking of the fruit, thinking that they would be just like God having both knowledge of good and evil; this was the first act of wanting to please ourselves above being pleased solely in God, and that has trickled down to the rest of us. Look at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 and you'll see that man thought they could be unified and reach the heavens. Then there were the Israelites who constantly wanted to make graven images of God and be on their own program. The list goes on and on, and you're included in that list. Everything we want out of life, as unregenerate people, is to fulfill the lusts of the flesh, the eyes, and life itself (1 John 2:16). Today, we'll take a look at this in a few passages of Scripture and see how we can be freed from this thing that holy hip-hopper B. Morr likes to call "Self Worship."

Romans 7:4-5 (NASB) - 4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.

1 John 2:16 (NASB) - For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

The two verses that I really want us to focus on are Romans 7:5 and 1 John 2:16. In Romans 7:5, we see that while we are in the flesh that our sinful passions are at work as a result of being aroused by the Law (God's standard of perfection) and its desire to rebel against it. We see this further defined by John in his writing when he gives us a clear indication as to what these sinful passions are: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Furthermore, he states that anyone who practices such things is not of God, but of the world. For many of us, we struggle with this on an almost daily basis; we are faced with challenges that force us to choose whether we will follow the sinful passions that burn within us or if we will be led by the Spirit and walk with our holy God. For the most part, Christians are able to get a grasp on the bigger issues, but we even have to focus on the smaller issues that can subtly slide into our lives and eat away at us like a cancer, undetected until it has already done its damage. 1 Peter 2:11 tells us that we should abstain from these lusts, as they wage war with our soul, which is exactly what we should be doing.

You see, self worship is just that, and it's a hard battle to fight; it is a desire to want to see ourselves pleased, and the flesh tells us that it can only be pleased by fulfilling its sinful desires. This is contrary to Scripture though because we are told that we are to find our fulfillment in God. But as long as we continue to walk in the flesh and not seek after God through prayer and His Word, then we will be slaves to self worship, as we are shown in Romans 7. The only way we are ever going to be freed is through the working of the Holy Spirit within us. Psalm 16:11 tells us that in His presence is fullness of joy; and it is in His presence alone that we can be freed from this self worship. It is in His presence that we take on the mind of Christ (Romans 12:1-2, 1 Corinthians 2:16) and are able to put to death the misdeeds of the flesh (Romans 8:13). Once we are able to do this, we will then be in the process of denying ourselves and putting our lives in proper perspective, which is to be before the throne of God kneeling before Him and worshiping Him; in essence, all of this should produce within us a worship of Christ and God the Father because He alone is the only One worthy of worship.

Much like the sum total of Timothy Brindle's Killing Sin album, B. Morr seeks to provide the believer with a point of clarity through Scripture by which they can arm themselves to wage war with the flesh, deny themselves and ultimately kill the sin in their lives. That's what Self Denial is all about, as well as the song "Self Worship." This is a daily battle where we must willingly and forcefully take the spotlight off of ourselves and place it solely on Christ, the head of our lives and give Him all of our worship, instead of worshiping ourselves. By no means is walking in self denial easy, but it is a must for any true believer who seeks to find fullness of joy and pleasure in Him. Stay in the Word and in prayer, and you will remain strong. Amen.