Eating Worms - 5 Ways to Fight Self-Pity

Nobody likes me.

Everybody hates me.

Guess I’ll go eat worms.

Ever sung that song as a child? How about as an adult? Be honest.

How about the day you found out that two of your best friends did something fun together and didn’t include you?

Or the day the dog threw up on the carpet and you stepped in it in the dark?

Or the day you saw on Facebook that Joan has a new car, Patty has a cute haircut, and Sandy’s husband just surprised her with a trip to Hawaii?

And did I mention that they have perfect kids, kind in-laws, and a maid that comes in twice a month?

Yup, time to eat worms,

Sing the chorus of Hee Haw, – “If I didn’t have no bad luck, I’d have no luck at all. Gloom, despair, and agony on me!”

and wallow in self-pity. 

Now before you get too comfortable in the universal emotion of self-pity, I have to warn you.

Self-pity is sin.

Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest, goes a step further: “Beware of allowing self-consciousness to continue because by slow degrees it will awaken self-pity, and self –pity is Satanic.”

 As I pondered this shocking statement, I found at least

5 Reasons Self-Pity Is a Sin:

1.  Self-pity implies that God exists to serve me. If I’m unhappy, then he isn’t serving me to my satisfaction.

2.  Self-pity implies that I, instead of God, know what will make me happy, fulfilled, content, and godly.

3.  Self-pity’s root is an ungrateful heart.

4.  Self-pity leads to murmuring, complaining, and an exalted sense of self.

5.  Self-pity is focused inwardly rather than outwardly.

If there was ever a man in Scripture who deserved the right to wallow in self-pity, it was Job. Facing the death of his children, the loss of his fortune, the decline of his health, and the betrayal of his wife and friends, Job was drowning in self-pity. One encounter with God, however, turned Job’s self-pity in to praise. 

Here are 

5 Ways to Combat Self-Pity

Photo Courtesy of Kristen Hatcher

1.  Remember that God is all-powerful and fully in control of the circumstances of our lives.

 “Then Job replied to the LORD: ‘I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.’ ” (Job 42:1).

2.  Remember that God is all-wise and knows what’s best for us. We can trust him.

“The LORD said to Job, ‘Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!’" (Job 40:1-2).

3.  Remember that God is more concerned about our holiness than our happiness.

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).

4.  Remember that every good and perfect gift comes from God. Even in the darkest times, we have much to be thankful for (James 1:17).

5.  Remember that this world is not all there is. As we respond in faith to God, especially in the hard times, we are banking faith rewards in Heaven.

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal”(2 Corinthians 4:17).

The next time we’re tempted to indulge in self-pity, instead of looking long and hard at ourselves, may we choose instead to fix our eyes on God.

“My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6).

What are some ways you combat the sin of self-pity? I invite you to join the conversation by leaving a comment in the box below.

May God richly bless you as you seek to glorify HIM!

If you've never heard the "Guess I'll Go Eat Worms" song, here's Alex's version:

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