The sin of individualism …

Human beings didn’t, over a long period of time, learn to embrace and prefer individualism, that destructive desire, mindset, and behavior was hatched with the first human beings …

“The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too,” Genesis 3:6.

Glimpses of that same sinful individualism is reflected today when we talk about living “my truth” or telling “my truth,” as if we have our own, individual truth made and delivered by ourselves.

That’s a fallacy.

It is true that you’re “free” to live however you want, but the truth is it isn’t your life to live any way you want.

To throw off or avoid the sin of individualism so widely celebrated today, you’ll need to grasp the following:

You were created.

“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see — such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world …” Colossians 1:15-16a.

You were made.

You were created by a divine being so infinitely superior to you that the difference really isn’t measurable.

You were created for Someone.

“… Everything was created through him and for him,” Colossians 1:16b.

You do not have a purpose for existing separate and apart from Jesus Christ, who made you for Himself.

You were created to worship and enjoy the One who created you.

“Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care,” Psalm 95:6-7.

“You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased,” Revelation 4:11.

“Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!” Psalm 150:6.

And so, your life is a stewardship of worship.

All kinds of definitions of “worship” are thrown around freely today, but a biblical understanding of worship is that worship means to ascribe worth or honor to. In that case, we worship every day in how we live our lives. We were created to ascribe the greatest, highest worth and value to our Creator:

“Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment,” Matthew 22:37-38.

With the entirety of our being (heart, soul, mind), we are to love God above everyone else and everything else. More than spouse. More than children. More than family. Certainly more than your dog or cat. More than money, or career, or material possessions.

More than life itself.

Such a life is a stewardship of worship. An opposite is the sin of individualism.

Marinate on that for a while, ponder the ramifications.

Scotty