This year marks another new entry to the National Day Calendar. Amy Joy Gilliland, a speech language pathologist for more than 25 years and mother of two adult children, submitted August 24th as National Selfirst Day. (That is spelled correctly!) Gilliland, born in Columbus, Ohio but raised and living in Tampa, Florida, went through a personal journey of addiction and loss. She realized that you need to put yourself first on occasion, therefore, we need a Selfirst Day.1
When I first read this, I instantly bristled. My guess – only a guess – is that this is coming from a humanistic, therapeutic perspective with a very worldly slant. Her website has no spiritual references or inferences to God. Therefore, I’m torn a bit by this celebration.
On one hand, it seems a bit unnecessary to encourage this for the majority of Americans. We live in an intensely narcissistic society. In many ways, we put ourselves first on a regular basis. Scripture makes this plain. Ephesians 5:29 says, “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church.” That’s why we are told in Philippians 2:3, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”
From the Garden of Eden, humanity has proven itself to be selfish and/or self-centered. Galatians 5:19-21 says, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, (20) Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, (21) Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” The majority of those sins can be attributed to selfishness which is a “work of the flesh.”
So, do we really need a day where we put ourselves first? A selfirst day?
But, as I got to thinking about this, there are some valid points that this day brings up, points that do not violate Scripture. First, it is a day. Not a lifestyle. Not a pattern. Wouldn’t it be fair to say that we put ourselves first when we go on a vacation, unplugging, and doing what WE want to do to relax and unwind? I’ve never heard any Christians spouting that it’s a sin to go on vacation. In fact, we tend to plan next year’s vacation before we’ve even finished this years.
One of our missionaries recently wrote in a letter, “We had many gorgeous days; and one of those gorgeous days was July 3rd, when we met with our missionary friends for the 4th of July picnic. It was a day of physical and mental rest, as well as spiritual encouragement, as we suspended our packed ministry schedules, and fellowshipped together.” Amen and God bless them for that!
Second, didn’t the Lord himself teach that there are times we need to get away? Mark 6:30-31 says, “And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. (31) And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” The summation of this verse has been worded succinctly as a proverb: we need to come apart so we don’t come apart!
Let’s put our consideration in the realm of caregivers. What cruel individual would dare to say that they need to provide care 24/7/365? Just the opposite. We would encourage them to take time for themselves – mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. They need to take care of themselves; otherwise, they won’t be any good taking care of that loved one who needs them.
It seems that context and definition is key to rightly understanding and celebrating a selfirst day. There are some who believe if they constantly give of themselves, burning the candle at both ends, that they are the epitome of spirituality. Let me burn out for Jesus, they say. However, when they do, there will be plenty of detractors pontificating on how unspiritual it is to burn out.
Seems to me that the Christian life is supposed to be balanced. Serve the Lord, loving Him with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind? YES! Taking time away to rest, recharge, and revitalize? YES! All of this is needed.
Taking care of ourselves is not a sin. If we don’t take care of ourselves, we won’t be able to take care of anyone else! As we care for ourselves, we must “Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.” (1 Chronicles 16:11)
1https://selfirstday.com/amy
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