Is “finding yourself” a biblical idea?
Question:
Is the idea of a person 'finding themselves' through finding God taught in the Bible? To me, drawing closer to God means not drawing closer to oneself, but drawing further from oneself. In other words, the closer a person comes to God, the further they come away from themselves. When Moses spoke to God on Mt. Sinai he drew closer and closer to God, and further and further away from himself, the person he used to be, even to the point of denying his love for Nefertari. It seems he gave up his inward identity and soon forgot what that even was.
Answer:
As I was reading your note, I recalled that we sometimes say that a prideful person is "full of themselves."
"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:8-10).
Of course, there is also Christ's statement:
"Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 16:24-25).
By the way, there is no mention of a Nefertari in the Bible, nor of Moses having a love interest in any Egyptian woman. While the movie The Ten Commandments is based on the Bible, it took a lot of liberties with the truth to spice up the story.
