Biblical Reflections · Christian Living
Masochism? Are We Masochists?
9 min read, approximately
2 Peter 2:21-22 (Masochism)
“It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment given to them. But the true proverb has happened to them: The dog returns to its vomit, and the washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.”
Introduction
Before beginning this topic, we need to know:
\1. God Always Desires Our Well-Being
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith Jehovah, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
“Beloved, I pray that in all things thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” (3 John 1:2)
\2. God Will Never Lead Us Into Error; He Does Not Want Anyone to Be Lost!
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
“So then, my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13)
\3. God Allows Us to Go Through Experiences That Shape Us, Teach Us Discipline and Self-Control, and Ultimately Make Holiness Shine in Us—Never to Destroy Us!
“All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, [even the fruit] of righteousness.” (Hebrews 12:11)
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
\4. We Are the Ones Who Choose to Plan Evil, Proceed, and Suffer Harm
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which [the Lord] promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man: but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:12-15)
All of the above is to avoid the mistaken idea that God subjects us to masochism.
God’s Formative Work vs. Masochism
The experiences God takes us through produce faith, courage, strength, focus, and growth:
“And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, [even] to them that are called according to [his] purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
Masochism, on the other hand, gradually leads us to pain, undervaluing ourselves, deterioration, and death… Quite a plan…
“The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy…” (John 10:10a)
Could We Be Acting as Masochists?
Let us make a checklist using God’s Word and see how many questions we answer ‘Yes’ to:
\1. Have We Repeated the Same Experience Again and Again Without Learning?
“Also, that the soul be without knowledge is not good; And he that hasteth with his feet sinneth. The foolishness of man subverteth his way; And his heart fretteth against Jehovah.” (Proverbs 19:2-3)
\2. Do We Want Even a Little Appreciation, Regardless of the Consequences?
“Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26)
\3. Do Emotions Often Dictate Our Lives?
“But Jehovah said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for [Jehovah seeth] not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looketh on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
\4. Do We Act First and Think Later?
“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have [wherewith] to complete it? Lest haply, when he hath laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, as he goeth to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace.” (Luke 14:28-32)
\5. Are We Comfortable as We Are? Are We Complacent?
“This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart; who being past feeling gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye did not so learn Christ; if so be that ye heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus: that ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit;” (Ephesians 4:17-22)
\6. Do We Present the Person Hurting Us to Others as a Good Person?
“Jehovah, thou hast heard the desire of the meek: Thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear; To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, That man who is of the earth may be terrible no more.” (Psalms 10:17-18)
“Jehovah thy God is in the midst of thee, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love; he will joy over thee with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)
\7. Do We Take Pleasure in Being Hurt?
“Ye were bought with a price; become not bondservants of men. Brethren, let each man, wherein he was called, therein abide with God.” (1 Corinthians 7:23-24)
And… 8. Do We Think Little of Ourselves?
This is a good moment to remember our worth in God. We have been:
a. Found
“He found him in a desert land, And in the waste howling wilderness; He compassed him about, he cared for him, He kept him as the apple of his eye.” (Deuteronomy 32:10)
b. Called to Be New Creations
“Wherefore if any man is in Christ, [he is] a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
c. Forgiven
“giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love; in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins:” (Colossians 1:12-14)
d. Bought
“Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
e. Made the Head and Not the Tail
“And Jehovah will make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if thou shalt hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do [them],” (Deuteronomy 28:13)
f. Made Victorious
“For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, [even] our faith. And who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5)
g. Established as More Than Conquerors
“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)
h. Made Complete in God
“for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and in him ye are made full, who is the head of all principality and power:” (Colossians 2:9-10)
i. Established as Accepted, Blessed, and Holy—in Other Words, Children of God
“Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Christ: even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love: having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved: in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, making known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in him, [I say],” (Ephesians 1:3-10)
If God has given us all this… why be masochists? There is no gain in it, only contempt, death, and destruction…
Brothers and sisters, God loves us and expects us to clothe ourselves:
“… as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved…” (Colossians 3:12)
What do you say? Shall we leave masochism behind and accept the Father’s invitation?
_**Remember to stop by the Songbook
May God continue to bless you, and may you continue to have an excellent day in Christ Jesus!