NARCISSISM by steve johnson
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You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves...” (2 Timothy 3:1–2a). It’s cause and effect. Push God out of His universe and don’t love Him as the supreme love. Instead, enthrone man as god, as we have done in our society, and the effect is that Paul’s words to Timothy become fulfilled to an even greater degree. Worship and love of God is replaced with worship and love of self. Another word for self-love is narcissism. The term narcissism originated more than 2,000 years ago when Ovid wrote the legend of Narcissus. He tells the story of a beautiful Greek hunter who, one day, happens to see his reflection in a pool of water and falls in love with it. He becomes obsessed with its beauty, and is unable to leave his reflected image until he dies. After his death, the flower Narcissus grew where he lay.
Narcissism is characterized by a grandiose sense of self-importance, a lack of empathy for others, a need for excessive admiration, and the belief that one is unique and deserving of special treatment. The subject of narcissism has intrigued people for centuries, but social scientists now claim that it has become a modern epidemic. What has led to its increase? In simple terms, it is due to a societal shift from a commitment to the society as a whole to a focus on the individual and oneself. Here are some things in our day that helped this narcissistic flower to blossom. We have the self-esteem movement, which determined that self-esteem was the key to success in life. Educators and parents started telling their children how special and unique they are to make them feel more confident. Parents tried to confer self-esteem upon their children rather than letting them achieve it through hard work.
