Over the past three weeks, we’ve been examining a fifth enemy to our spiritual health: self-absorption. We define self-absorption as being preoccupied with our thoughts, feelings, desires, and concerns above God and others. We hope these additional resources will be helpful as you fight self-absorption in your life.
Video: Freed from Self-Absorption by John Piper
In this sermon excerpt, Pastor John Piper explains how the gospel frees us from being self-absorbed. Piper explains the phrase “omnivorous attentiveness” and how we can become more alive as we are more and more captivated both by the world around us and by God’s daily gifts.
Article: Rescued from the Sea of Self by Stacy Reaoch
The author discusses the dangers of being consumed with self, and how we can fight to be free from being sinfully inwardly focused. Reaoch looks to scripture and Jesus’ ultimate act of sacrifice on the cross to give us reminders and tools for fighting our self-absorption.
Article: The Self-Centered Christian
This piece helps us understand where self-absorption comes from, how it affects us, and how we will have to repent and overcome it to live the blessed life God has called us into. By submitting to God and asking the Holy Spirit to fill us with His love, we can then freely live for and serve others.
Article: Intimacy for the Avoidant by David Brooks
This opinion piece discusses how the ways we choose to use technology may be making us more self-focused and unhappy. Brooks goes into detail about how Internet and phone addiction have made deep friendships and connection more and more rare as we are encouraged to become “social multitaskers”.
Article: Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed by David Cain
Although this article is not spiritual, it sheds some helpful insight on how our established rhythms of work in the Western world can cause us to be more selfish and unintentional with the little free time we do have control over. Cain not only looks at how our world encourages a consumerist lifestyle in how we spend our money but also at how this mindset has changed how we spend our free time for or with others.
Article: How Technology is Killing Eye Contact by Carolyn Gregoire
This article looks at how our digital habits are affecting our ability and tendencies to make eye contact and be fully present with the people we are with. This is something worth paying attention to because in order to truly see, care for, and encourage the people in our lives, we have to be able to give them our full attention.