Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
In John 5:1–9, we read about a man who had been lying beside a pool for 38 years, waiting to be healed. He was not only sick physically, but he was also sick in his soul. Sicknesses of the soul can be harder to deal with than sicknesses of the body. I believe the condition of his body and soul stole his confidence and caused him to give up gradually, to the point that he was filled with self-pity.
In John 5:6–7, when Jesus asked the man if he wanted to get well, he said he had no one to help him get into the pool where he could be healed. Jesus did not stand there and pity the man. Instead, He told him to get up and walk. He had compassion on him, but He did not feel sorry for him or pity him because He knew it would not help him. Jesus was not being harsh in telling the man to get up and walk. He was trying to set him free.
Self-pity is a major problem. I know because I lived in it for many years. God finally helped me understand that I could be pitiful, or I could be powerful, but I could not be both. If I wanted to be powerful, I had to give up self-pity.
Like the man in John 5, Jesus did not give me pity either. His refusal to let me wallow in self-pity was a turning point in my life. If you will reject self-pity, actively look to God, and do what He instructs you to do, He will set you free.
Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me resist the temptation to feel self- pity. Instead, help me look to You to show me the way to healing and freedom.
