A Pronoun Problem
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking... “Why is this lady writing about pronouns? What on earth can be learned by an English lesson? She really does have a hang-up with words!!” LOL!! HOLD UP! WAIT A MINUTE!!! Don’t blow me off just yet. You may be surprised to find that those little pronouns reveal so much of who we are as a person and where we are in our relationship with the Lord.
Let’s just start by first explaining what a pronoun is, for those who might not know or have forgotten half of what they learned in English 101, just as I have forgotten ALL of what I was taught in Algebra 101… and 102 for that matter.
Pronoun: a word that takes the place of a noun in a sentence.
For example… you instead of John, yours instead of John's, he, she, her, him, theirs, ours… well, you get the picture. So how can we have a problem with pronouns? They're just words! Well, pronouns in general aren’t the problem. It’s those possessive case pronouns that become a stumbling block for so many of us Christians.
Possessive pronoun: *a word that demonstrates ownership
For example... me, mine, I. Like when we say things such as; I want. I need. I deserve. It was my idea. I’m in the right. They didn’t give ME the credit I deserve. That’s mine. (That’s a popular one used among children.)
You see where I’m going with this now, don't you? Of course it's no surprise that the pronoun problem can be traced all the way back to the biggest trouble maker of all times. Yes, Satan, that slithering slimy bag of lies, himself. He started his possessive use of I before the earth had been reformed in Genesis. Look at his mighty little speech that he gave in heaven as he stirred up a fine kettle of trouble…
“I” will ascend to heaven.
“I” will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
“I” will be like the most High.
“I” will ascend above the heights of the clouds. Is. 14:13&14
I, I, I, me, me, me! Satan was satan’s main focus and satan was brought low because of it. As low as you can go! (Is. 14:15) His self-absorbed tactics worked so well for him in heaven (NOT!) that he decided to try them out on little ol’ Eve, in the garden of Eden. Watch as he slithers his way in between Eve and God.
“You” will not die.
“YOUR” eyes will be open.
“YOU” shall be like God. Gen. 3: 4&5
He took the focus off of God and had Eve focus on herself, *taking ownership of her own life and her own future. (BTW... beware of the advice given to you by people who want to remind you of what's yours and your rights. You, like Eve, are gathering advice from the wrong source!)
I could go on and on with examples of how when people become more concerned about their own will instead of “Thy will be done” leads them into one problem right after another. As a children of God, we’ve been bought with a price. Our lives are not our own.
“For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are Gods." I Cor. 6:20 Ownership!!
When we gave our hearts to Jesus, we gave up our rights to rule and reign over our own lives… we gave up ownership.
I just love the words from the old hymn Now I Belong to Jesus that say...
“Now I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me. Not for the years of time alone. But for eternity." Ownership!!
You remember the acronym for JOY. J-Jesus, O-others, Y-you. We’ll never have J.O.Y if we keep trying to make it Y.J.O. (You, Jesus, others)
Self-examination: Want to know if you have a pronoun problem? Pay close attention to your conversations/thoughts over the next few days. How often do you refer to yourself in a conversation? How often do you talk/think about your accomplishments, your possessions, your skills, your problems? Not that mentioning them every now and again is wrong, it’s just that when they are brought up more than Jesus, more than others, may indicate a pronoun problem.
“Let another man praise you and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.”
Proverbs 27:2
So there you have it. The world as a whole has a pronoun problem. As a whole, the world seeks its own, what’s best for itself. The thought of being uncomfortable to bring comfort to another NEVER enters the population’s minds, as a whole. But we are children of the most High. His spirit, His very breath lives in us to give us the power to have…
“love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…”
Let us not be “grabbers” as Jacob of old was so named because he sought to grab for himself his own future, trying to fix his own problems with his own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5) Let us trust God with such a fervent faith, that we allow only Him to fight for us, to give us our future and our hope.” (Jer. 29:11)
