"The Little Professor" -- Trying to be Good in Yourself

23But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Galatians 3: 23-25)

The law, the set of rules, the "dos and don'ts" that wars against everyone of us (Colossians 2: 13-15), these regulations brought us into bondage for a long time.

The law forces us to look at ourselves:

"2I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 12Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 13Thou shalt not kill. 14Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15Thou shalt not steal. 16Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's." (Exodus 20: 2-17)

The law puts all the focus on us: "Thou shalt, thou shalt, thou shalt."

Paul details the outcome of living in bondage in that men and women are still doing, or at least trying to do, something about ourselves:

"14For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

 Notice how often Paul writes the word "I" -- 25 times! Too much of ourselves. This strain of self is based on trying to keep the law, trying to measure up to a standard which no one can measure up to.

Wow, how it all makes sense. We do not have a poor self-image problem -- we have an improper one much of the time. Even AA acknowledges that "self-pity" is a big source of the woe that leads people to take from the bottle. I often remember the people whom I spoke to in  meetings, I remember the person who brought me into AA, and how caught up this person was in herself. It's really poisonous, focusing on ourselves, trying to make everything in us "just right".

Paul saw the mess that he was in:

21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7: 21-25) 

Jesus Christ gives us His life and all the glory that goes with it. We receive unparalleled blessing, no longer focusing on ourselves but instead taking in the wonder and the glory of His life.

Until we accept that we cannot measure up to any standard, that anything we do is  never going to be good enough, the "little professor" or rather "the schoolmaster" in our head will attack us every day, berating us for not doing enough, for failing to measure up.

Members of AA more often than not are just consumed in themselves. Whether they are bent out of shape because the world treats them badly, or they are in despair because they do not live up to the life that they think that they deserve, they drink over the hurt and bitterness in their lives.

This hurt, this bitterness, has a source in a sin conscience, one which every man is born with, and in the Blood of Jesus we are forever purged from sin and perfected in our conscience (Hebrews 10: 14)

Stop looking at yourself, your feelings, your hurts. Start looking at Himself, your righteousness and your wisdom. He set you free from yourself, to receive His Life, that you may pass from death life (John 3: 16)

You do not need to listen to that "little professor" in your head anymore. Every demand on you has been divinely and righteously fulfilled forever at the Cross!