Narcissus was the handsome youth in classical mythology who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. Because he was unable to tear himself away from the image, he wasted away and died. His self-absorption led to his destruction.

The Bible warns us that the opposite of success is disaster (Jeremiah 29:11). True success is more than a satisfactory completion of goals. It is the escape from that which keeps us enslaved by self-interest, self-aggrandizement and self absorption.

Narcissism permeates our society today. Many are wasting away spiritually through self-absorption. True self-actualization is the discovery of our identity, relatedness and purpose in God through a successful escape (exit, exodus) from the kingdom of self (darkness). Our freedom and divinely purposed destiny is tied up with our reckoning with God's provision of this escape through the Cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus died not only to pay our legal penalty for sin to secure our forgiveness but to deliver us from (and kill off) the power of selfishness, to secure our freedom. He rose from the dead representing the proto-type of a new human race, fixating on glorifying God and serving others. He endows those who put the full weight of their trust on Him with a new nature - a new life in the Spirit.

The first letter in the word 'success' is not spelled with the dollar sign ($). Nor is it the 'S' of Self. The first letter in the word 'success' should stand for the domination of the Spirit. The Apostle Paul writes:

"My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence? What happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion of heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely." (Galatians 5:16-23, The Message, paraphrase by Eugene Peterson, NavPress c.1993).

In Christ's service that the 'Me' Generation might become a 'Free' Generation,