4 --Then what often happens is that relationships are damaged. When our feelings are hurt and we're feeling sorry for ourselves, we often say and do things that hurt others. And because we've lost our perspective, we say and do things we really will regret later on. But once those things are said and done, it may be too late to undo the damage. Self-pity can cause irreparable damage to relationships.
5 --When we have pity parties, one thing is certain: we are self-centered. Self pity is by definition a total concentration on ourselves and how we've been hurt. Self-focused people are always miserable, and besides, being self-focused is a sin.
6 --Another inevitable result of self-pity is that it affects our performance. We slow down, we lose motivation, we do our work halfheartedly–or, what often happens is we quit! In our jobs we may not have the luxury of quitting, so instead our work habits deteriorate. But I wonder how many church and volunteer positions have been resigned by people with their feelings hurt.
These are just some of the common results of pity parties. Do you see why I say that pity parties are pitiful? And why I believe that the enemy uses them very often to entangle us and to hinder us and to keep us from running our race effectively?
How do we recognize pity parties? Well, they often begin with words like:
• "I deserve"
• "I have a right"
• "I don't have to take this"
• "I didn't get the credit I deserved"
When you hear yourself saying those words or thinking those thoughts, stop dead in your tracks, because you're headed for a pity party. When you start to put self-pity in perspective and think of how it must look to the Lord, then you'll find yourself getting disgusted with pity parties.
So, what I'm trying to do this week is convince you that pity parties are pitiful–they do nothing but harm. I hope you'll join me in this attitude toward self-pity.
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