When you look in the mirror do you think, “I love myself, or, I hate myself?” What is the Christian answer? Are we called to love, or to hate? In this essay, Lewis seeks to expand on this line of thought and show the two ways one can perceive the self, and which way should a Christian perceive his or her self.
We are commanded by God to hate our own life. In contrast to this, we are also commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. This seems like a two commands in which contradict each other. Is there a point in which hate right? “There are two kinds of self-hatred which tend to look rather alike in their earlier stages, but of which one is wrong from the beginning and the other right to the end.” (p.297) A type of hatred is one of a man who loathes his neighbor as himself. This is a very un-Christian attitude to have. A person who personifies this type of hatred often expresses cynicism and cruelty to others as well as himself. He will be the lowest in others minds as well as in his own. We could conclude that someone in this type of mindset would be one who would be anti-social, a sociopath, or one who suffers from severe depression. In any case, we are told that this type of self-hate is not something to emulate. Instead, we should love ourselves, not in a selfish manner, but as one does when they are honoring someone.
The self can come in two forms. In one, the self “is God’s creature, and occasion of love and rejoicing; now, indeed, hateful in condition, but to be pitied and healed.” (p.298) This links into what we talked about above with self-hate. We indeed hate the sin that is within each and every one of us, but not the person. On the other hand, we have a form of self which, as George MacDonald says, is “to be not only hated, but simply killed; never to be allowed a moment’s respite from eternal death.” (p.298) This is the self of I and me. As Christians, we are to wage a war of ego versus ego. We should deny ourselves, hate the selfishness we embody, and show our love and affection toward others.
This was extremely hard to write. To make a note, this is the first Lewis essay that I am writing on, so it may get easier to understand his rhetoric in his other essays. I would like to pull one thing out of his essay and expound upon it though. His description of the self that it is God’s creature and so on is something I would say that most Christians would agree on. When I say, agree on, I mean that it is a standard that should be set among all Christians. How many people who proclaim themselves to be Christians truly embody these characteristics? There is no sound argument that the human race is made up of hateful beings, but how much pity and healing do we really do? If our condition, which is a result of the curse of Adam and Eve, it to be pitied and healed, should we, as Christians, not take up the responsibility to pity and heal others? I know I had to check my actions in the past few weeks to see if I have been truly healing, and I see that I could have done more. On a more personal level, I find that, in Cedarville, there is a good amount of people trying to heal others, but they are more faculty and staff. I am not saying that every student should be stopping every passerby and asking them if they need anything, but should we not show more concern for one another? Sensitivity to someone goes a long way. You do not know what that person is going through, so we should guard ourselves, not say things that may tear them down. In not guarding our speech, we may promote others negative thinking and self-hate to where they are tearing themselves down, then others, and so on. It is a destructive cycle that someone can start, all because of one way of the self.
We are commanded by God to hate our own life. In contrast to this, we are also commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. This seems like a two commands in which contradict each other. Is there a point in which hate right? “There are two kinds of self-hatred which tend to look rather alike in their earlier stages, but of which one is wrong from the beginning and the other right to the end.” (p.297) A type of hatred is one of a man who loathes his neighbor as himself. This is a very un-Christian attitude to have. A person who personifies this type of hatred often expresses cynicism and cruelty to others as well as himself. He will be the lowest in others minds as well as in his own. We could conclude that someone in this type of mindset would be one who would be anti-social, a sociopath, or one who suffers from severe depression. In any case, we are told that this type of self-hate is not something to emulate. Instead, we should love ourselves, not in a selfish manner, but as one does when they are honoring someone.
The self can come in two forms. In one, the self “is God’s creature, and occasion of love and rejoicing; now, indeed, hateful in condition, but to be pitied and healed.” (p.298) This links into what we talked about above with self-hate. We indeed hate the sin that is within each and every one of us, but not the person. On the other hand, we have a form of self which, as George MacDonald says, is “to be not only hated, but simply killed; never to be allowed a moment’s respite from eternal death.” (p.298) This is the self of I and me. As Christians, we are to wage a war of ego versus ego. We should deny ourselves, hate the selfishness we embody, and show our love and affection toward others.
This was extremely hard to write. To make a note, this is the first Lewis essay that I am writing on, so it may get easier to understand his rhetoric in his other essays. I would like to pull one thing out of his essay and expound upon it though. His description of the self that it is God’s creature and so on is something I would say that most Christians would agree on. When I say, agree on, I mean that it is a standard that should be set among all Christians. How many people who proclaim themselves to be Christians truly embody these characteristics? There is no sound argument that the human race is made up of hateful beings, but how much pity and healing do we really do? If our condition, which is a result of the curse of Adam and Eve, it to be pitied and healed, should we, as Christians, not take up the responsibility to pity and heal others? I know I had to check my actions in the past few weeks to see if I have been truly healing, and I see that I could have done more. On a more personal level, I find that, in Cedarville, there is a good amount of people trying to heal others, but they are more faculty and staff. I am not saying that every student should be stopping every passerby and asking them if they need anything, but should we not show more concern for one another? Sensitivity to someone goes a long way. You do not know what that person is going through, so we should guard ourselves, not say things that may tear them down. In not guarding our speech, we may promote others negative thinking and self-hate to where they are tearing themselves down, then others, and so on. It is a destructive cycle that someone can start, all because of one way of the self.
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