Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. For with the judgment you use, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:1-2 HCSB
Mental health terminology becomes a catchphrase. Years ago every child with a behavior problem suffered from Attention Deficit Disorder, then it was Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. No one dared to say that perhaps it was just a lack of discipline.
It’s easier to give pills than to discipline. There were some children who I don’t doubt suffered from these disorders, but it became a layperson’s diagnosis for every child that misbehaved.
The new term now is “Narcissism” or “Narcissistic Personality Disorder”. Everyone who angers someone else is suddenly a narcissist. Again, many out there truly do suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I don’t deny this. But I see so many people throwing the term around without a good understanding of what it truly means.
According to the Mayo Clinic, Narcissistic Personality Disorder refers to someone who has an extremely high sense of self-importance. They crave and are therefore constantly seeking attention. They may lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others. They seem to be extremely confident, but behind this mask of self-importance, they are uncertain of their self-worth. They can’t handle criticism.
I think one of the reasons narcissism has become so prevalent in our society is because our society seems to put self-importance in front of God. It’s okay to go against God’s commands if you are doing what makes you feel good. It’s okay to disobey God as long as you follow your feelings.
We don’t need to obey God’s holy word, we simply need to do what we feel. We act upon our emotions. Social media has become a wonderful playground for narcissists. Everyone thinks their opinion is all that matters. They believe their way or view of the world is the right view. If you don’t believe me, just check out their social media they will tell you so.
They want this confirmed by having a huge number of likes on their posts. They become upset if others don’t respond by liking what they have to say. They love having a large number of “followers”. That term right there is scary when you think about it.
Maybe we should look at how many people we are “following” on social media. How much time do you spend on their posts in comparison to the time you spend “following” God and studying His holy word?
Often people post things on social media that are opposite to what’s going on in their lives. They post their beautiful family pictures but fail to mention they have filed for divorce or that their children aren’t speaking to them. We cultivate narcissism when we coddle people’s egos.
When we put anything, especially ourselves or our feelings, above God and His commands we are in severe danger of becoming a narcissist. The flip side to narcissism is they mask themselves as someone who considers themselves to be more important than others when in actuality they are unsure of their self-worth.
Nothing good comes from us not living the way God commands us to live. If you are not putting God first, you could be diving into a life of narcissism. You could be self-destructing yourself right into a Narcissistic personality disorder. When we don’t put God first, our lives become unbalanced.
If you are on social media and you use it to lift yourself and judge others be very careful. It could create an opening in your foundation for the devil to slither in there.
In all we do, we should put God first and others second. We come last. When we do this, we can guard ourselves against narcissism. Our feelings don’t matter, God’s word matters. If we obey His word, we will feel just fine.
Have a great day!