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.<\/p>\n\t
As I was reading your note, I recalled that we sometimes say that a prideful person is “full of themselves.”<\/p>\n
“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<\/em>” (James 4:8-10).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Of course, there is also Christ’s statement:<\/p>\n
“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<\/em>” (Matthew 16:24-25).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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\u00a0The Ten Commandments<\/em>\u00a0is based on the Bible, it took a lot of liberties with the truth to spice up the story.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[724],"class_list":["post-27302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-self-esteem"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":85634,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-to-draw-near-to-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":27302,"position":0},"title":"How to Draw Near to God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by George Hutto via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 1, January 2015 \"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded\" (James 4:7-8). James said,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38562,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-arminianism\/","url_meta":{"origin":27302,"position":1},"title":"What is Arminianism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning Jeffrey, I'm having an issue understand something. A lot of the denominational world is under the assumption that if a person is not a Calvinist, then they are an Arminian. What is an Arminian? I've thoroughly studied Calvinism and its faults, but I can't seem to find\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4656,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-closer-to-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":27302,"position":2},"title":"Who is Closer to God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 23, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bob Pulliam Now don't get me wrong! This is not a contest mentality being advocated here. But the question does enter my mind. I surfed over a channel the other day where people had the lights dimmed low, all were holding candles and swaying while singing\u00a0Alleluia. I'm not trying\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Emotional Worship","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/emotionalWorship.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":63689,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/running-away-and-running-to\/","url_meta":{"origin":27302,"position":3},"title":"Running Away and Running To","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall James 4:7-8 is taking on a more powerful meaning to me. Here's the text: \"Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61820,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/shut-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":27302,"position":4},"title":"Shut In","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford Last Sunday morning was the last time I will ever attempt to assemble with the saints. I say \"attempt\" because I did not succeed in assembling. It was a debacle. About midway through the debacle, I resolved that I wasn't going to put myself or my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":82350,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/friendship-with-god-or-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":27302,"position":5},"title":"Friendship with God or the World","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer True friendship is valued. When we choose a friend, we believe there is a significance to the relationship that is mutually beneficial. We share in a fellowship and desire to be with each other and enjoy one another's company. 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