In which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
Ephesians 2:2
Satan is known as the “Prince of the Power of the Air” in Ephesians 2:2. What a strange phrase. Does he fly around on a red magic carpet shooting poisonous darts into his enemy’s chest? If not, then what is his power exactly?
His power according to scripture is not found in “flesh and blood battles” but in “strongholds of the mind”, as 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
Thoughts and arguments, the battleground of Satan. And I personally believe these thoughts and arguments are strategies he puts in use to “conform us to the thinking of this world.” He makes lies popular, they become the fashionable rage. One of the lies that Paul said he used during his day and age was “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” (1 Corinthians 15:32)
Each fashionable lie is meant to lead us away from the knowledge of Christ and his will for us. Colossians 2:8 says how philosophies may seem good, but often they are “hollow and deceptive” and they depend on human reasoning and not on Christ.
I believe one of the most popular, or fashionable teachings this day is learning to become “The Best Version of Yourself.” If you read any of the current self-help material you will find that phrase linked to this statement, “If you follow my advice, you can become the ‘Best Version of Yourself’.”
What does that mean? And when do I achieve it?
One popular self-help writer even acknowledges the slippery problem this statement has, “This phrase has an allure that somehow you will find the best aspect of you and live it always. It suggests, vaguely, that perhaps this will unlock your wildest dreams or make you be the best at something. The fact that it leaves room for interpretation is great for marketing, but does it push us towards a goal that is actually contrary to what most of us who end up buying these books are truly seeking?”
I think this comment hits on something that all of us want, “our wildest dreams coming true.” Just a question, “When will that ever happen?” And once our dreams do come true, can they still be better? And what does ‘best’ even mean?
I ask this because for me the word “best” has been used as a manipulative tool that makes you feel like you haven’t really arrived, and with a lot of hard work you can possibly get there. But there are no guarantees. So keep doing what the author of the book tells you to do and eventually you may possibly find success and reach for your dreams.
But what if you don’t ever get there?
Another writer says that “Being the Best Version of Yourself” is another way of saying, “Living life as your authentic self! It means being aware of how we often operate from our minds, ego’s, belief systems, societally programmed beliefs, patterns etc. and instead begin living from a deeper knowing within ourselves. Something that touches how we truly FEEL about decisions, situations, and experiences in our lives.”
In other words, “An individual living their authentic self pushes their self into higher states of consciousness.”
But I want you to notice something, self-help is always about “Self”. Living for “Me, myself, and I” so I will be whole. Even Joel Osteen pushes this idea in his book, “LIving Your Best Life Now.” But is that our goal?
What does it mean to “taking every thought captive to Christ?” Does Christ want me to be my best version of myself? Honestly, does he? Let me offer you four verses and then you tell me what he wants:
- 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 – “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
- 2 Corinthians 4:7 – “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
- Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
- Hebrews 11:13-16 – “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”
Look closely at those verses, is there any room for “the Best Version of Myself”? To me, Christianity is about letting Christ live in my life by faithful obedience. Most of the time, faithful obedience does not accomplish “my wildest dreams.” As Hebrews 11:13-16 shows, I may not ever on this earth get what I want.
So do I just keep trying? Keep learning new coping techniques to be the best version of me? Or do I trust Christ one day at a time?
Not too exciting, is it? I’m sorry. But my goal is not “self-actualization” it is for Christ’s glory: “Whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31. Don’t let the Devil win, because his lies steal life and peace and joy from you.
