Christ_empowered
Member
- Oct 23, 2010
- 14,243
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This is something that I think is sorely lacking in modern society. Maybe its always been sorely lacking in humans, period, w/o Christ? I dunno...
Anyway, in my own life, until Christ showed me massive amounts of compassion, I was perfectly wretched. Narcissistic, burned out ex-pill head, flamer, anywhere from dull to obviously brain damaged, on and on it goes. I got saved 2 1/2 years ago, and now...
Well, the narcissism seems to have faded. Here's the thing...when everybody, everywhere, punishes you for being prideful, filled with self-love, self-centered, etc., it really doesn't help. It just makes the narcissist crazy, which may explain my heavy round of shock at 23. Now, when I got saved, I was still NPD. I denied it, I thought I'd beaten it, but yeah...NPD.
Jesus loved me out of it! I will say that many NPD people will abuse compassion, pity, love, etc. from people, so its tough to figure out what to do with them. I don't have any major suggestions, except to point to Scripture and say "Do unto others as you would have done unto you." If you were imprisoned in yourself, how would you want to be treated?
I read on this blog once...I think it was The Last Psychiatrist (he's a shrink, clearly)...that to stop being truly narcissistic, you'd have to become a completely different person. Shrinks can't do that. Jesus can, and He does, and He did, for me (of all people). And I'm not the only one. There's plenty of former narcissists, former homogays, former (fill in the blank here) out there..."washed and made clean."
I know I post way too much about myself, lol. I was shocked into oblivion and Christ has loved me out of that, too. I would say its like waking up from a protracted nightmare, but that implies that I'm waking up the same as when I went to sleep, and that's simply not the case. Better to say...I've been transformed, and my senses have been returned unto me, all because I somehow heard (and then heeded, as best I could) the call to believe upon Christ. Only He could get through the haze of too much (shock, drugs, head injuries, self-everything, etc.).
Now, other people show me more compassion, or at least they'll be humane towards me. Even mental health people (!!!). They used to be my arch enemies, what with the shocks and all. It helps that Christ has done a work on me physically, as well. I've read that this happens for Christians, especially in the early years after being Born Again. Not that its guaranteed or whatever, just...a lot of us come to The Cross needing heavy duty clean up and transformation, that's all.
Now, I can live. Life and that more abundantly...however simple that may be at first. And I'm just 1 person. There's plenty of un-teachable, un-reachable, decidedly un-lovable people out there who need as much compassion as you can spare...and your prayers. Even when it hurts to pray for them (I now have people like that on my prayer list, lol).
I'm kinda rambling, putting things together (as per usual). I find myself genuinely, truly caring about other people and thinking "well, what would Christ think of ( ) ?," and that's huge. I'm also remarkably physically healthy, normal in many respects, and my "madness," for lack of a better word, is well-controlled w/ a few modern pharmaceuticals (plus heavy duty supplements, of course).
Life is better with compassion. Having been the object of so much love+compassion from on high, I'm now more able to extend at least some care, compassion to those around me. For someone once locked in the cold, isolated, lonely world of narcissism, this is huge. "New creation in Christ Jesus..."
Anyway, we are called to do a little bit of God's work here on earth. So, as a former un-lovable, un-reachable, un-teachable, miserable wretch made whole, I'd like to encourage everybody reading this to show a little compassion, as best you can.
Anyway, in my own life, until Christ showed me massive amounts of compassion, I was perfectly wretched. Narcissistic, burned out ex-pill head, flamer, anywhere from dull to obviously brain damaged, on and on it goes. I got saved 2 1/2 years ago, and now...
Well, the narcissism seems to have faded. Here's the thing...when everybody, everywhere, punishes you for being prideful, filled with self-love, self-centered, etc., it really doesn't help. It just makes the narcissist crazy, which may explain my heavy round of shock at 23. Now, when I got saved, I was still NPD. I denied it, I thought I'd beaten it, but yeah...NPD.
Jesus loved me out of it! I will say that many NPD people will abuse compassion, pity, love, etc. from people, so its tough to figure out what to do with them. I don't have any major suggestions, except to point to Scripture and say "Do unto others as you would have done unto you." If you were imprisoned in yourself, how would you want to be treated?
I read on this blog once...I think it was The Last Psychiatrist (he's a shrink, clearly)...that to stop being truly narcissistic, you'd have to become a completely different person. Shrinks can't do that. Jesus can, and He does, and He did, for me (of all people). And I'm not the only one. There's plenty of former narcissists, former homogays, former (fill in the blank here) out there..."washed and made clean."
I know I post way too much about myself, lol. I was shocked into oblivion and Christ has loved me out of that, too. I would say its like waking up from a protracted nightmare, but that implies that I'm waking up the same as when I went to sleep, and that's simply not the case. Better to say...I've been transformed, and my senses have been returned unto me, all because I somehow heard (and then heeded, as best I could) the call to believe upon Christ. Only He could get through the haze of too much (shock, drugs, head injuries, self-everything, etc.).
Now, other people show me more compassion, or at least they'll be humane towards me. Even mental health people (!!!). They used to be my arch enemies, what with the shocks and all. It helps that Christ has done a work on me physically, as well. I've read that this happens for Christians, especially in the early years after being Born Again. Not that its guaranteed or whatever, just...a lot of us come to The Cross needing heavy duty clean up and transformation, that's all.
Now, I can live. Life and that more abundantly...however simple that may be at first. And I'm just 1 person. There's plenty of un-teachable, un-reachable, decidedly un-lovable people out there who need as much compassion as you can spare...and your prayers. Even when it hurts to pray for them (I now have people like that on my prayer list, lol).
I'm kinda rambling, putting things together (as per usual). I find myself genuinely, truly caring about other people and thinking "well, what would Christ think of ( ) ?," and that's huge. I'm also remarkably physically healthy, normal in many respects, and my "madness," for lack of a better word, is well-controlled w/ a few modern pharmaceuticals (plus heavy duty supplements, of course).
Life is better with compassion. Having been the object of so much love+compassion from on high, I'm now more able to extend at least some care, compassion to those around me. For someone once locked in the cold, isolated, lonely world of narcissism, this is huge. "New creation in Christ Jesus..."
Anyway, we are called to do a little bit of God's work here on earth. So, as a former un-lovable, un-reachable, un-teachable, miserable wretch made whole, I'd like to encourage everybody reading this to show a little compassion, as best you can.
