Editorial February 26, 1977 Issue

Self-completeness, Not Self-pity

Naomi Price

A wonder of this world is a person who is totally without self-pity —one who does not spend time moaning over apparent injustices, deprivations, and other hard experiences on the human scene; one who makes the best of unpropitious situations and with good grace takes steps to become self-reliant and content, not looking for sympathy from others.

Self-pity is a thief. If allowed to claim a foothold in our mentality, it steals away the joy and satisfaction that naturally belong to us as children of God—at least it would steal them if such a thing were possible. But in fact it is not. The Bible tells us, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."^{James 1:17;}

The gifts of abundant spiritual substance, happiness, and completeness are from God, Spirit. All God's creations reflect them, and they never can be taken away from anyone. Infinite good belongs to each of us eternally. In truth no human circumstance, however disastrous it may seem, can deprive us of a single element of good, and to accept the suggestion that self-pity is justified because of some apparent loss, and to wallow in it, is to sentence oneself unjustly to needless suffering. One may even inflict this suffering on others, too, since the nature of self-pity is to foster and draw out the pity of others, feeding on their commiseration and compassion.

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