Throw Down Your Whip
Written by Rev. Dr. Scott Paczkowski
“If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. ”
There is always someone ready to tear you down. If it isn’t a person, it can be situations in life. Sticking up for oneself is fundamental to living a faithful life. Often, it isn’t the other that diminishes the self, but the demands we place on ourselves. Alison E. Berman, in her article, “The Dangers of Basing Self-worth on Achievement” says, “We’re afraid that if we were to be gentle and kind with ourselves, to relax our grip, we might not accomplish anything at all. So we keep cracking our internal whip. It’s exhausting, struggling against the voice of our judgmental selves all the time just to carry on.” Berman continues, “I felt oppressed by my own internal whip.”
We’ve all been hurt by others at one point or another in our lives. For the vast majority of us, we hurt ourselves worse than anyone has ever hurt us. Why, because we know ourselves so well, we know just how to inflict the worst punishment. We know all our emotional and spiritual soft spots. We do violence to ourselves that we would never dream of inflicting on anyone else.
Today, say a short prayer for yourself, then think about how you can offer yourself a little support and care. In the same way you know how to hurt yourself the most, you are also the one who knows how to care for yourself. When you begin to take care of yourself and ask the Holy Spirit to bring Divine medicine, you are able to put down the whip, and renew your own health and wellbeing. When you do, life will feel joyous and full, with a confidence you thought might never return.
