Christians place high importance on the Bible. Scripture is filled with wisdom and principles of living a good life. The Bible teaches patience, kindness, discipline, among other good things. Depending on your life aspirations, these might be the things you’re striving to do with the help of self-development books. But is the Bible considered a self-help book?
The short answer is no, it is not a self-help book and I’ll explain why in this article.
Table of Contents
- What is the meaning of self-improvement?
- Comparing the Bible with self-improvement
- How self-improvement is different from biblical values
- Christians are called to self-abandon, not self-improve
- Self-improvement’s chief aim is to satisfy one’s self, a Christian’s life strives to bring glory to God.
- Self-improvements rely on the self to help, Christians rely on God
- So no, the Bible isn’t a self-improvement book
- Is self-development biblical?
- What is personal development in Christianity?
- FAQ
What is the meaning of self-improvement?
First, let’s look at what self-improvement is. The concept of self-improvement, self-development, or self-help refers to improving ourselves with our own efforts. Improvement can be in any aspect of your life – personal, relationship, work, spirituality, etc.
Self-improvement can take the form of higher discipline, better communication skills, stronger mental health habits, sleeping better, being more self-aware, etc. The list goes on and on and you can pick anything, really. The point is to improve our own knowledge, skills, and capabilities to reach our goals.
The quest is to make ourselves better every day in every aspect of life. Our current society is quite obsessed with things that focus on ourselves: self-development, self-care, self-awareness, and many other self-hyphenated concepts. Just look at the numbers. According to PR Newswire, the personal development market size is estimated to reach USD 56.66 billion by 2027.
Comparing the Bible with self-improvement
How about the Bible then? Doesn’t the Bible teach discipline, patience, self-control? Yes, the Bible teaches all these. These are part of the fruit of the Spirits. We can find many bible verses commending these.
Proverbs 12:1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. (ESV)
Galatians 5:22-33 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (ESV)
So if the self-improvement goals include any of the above, there’s an intersection between biblical values and self-help. But as similarities go, this is as far as it goes. The superficial traits.
Really, that’s it? Let me explain.
How self-improvement is different from biblical values
For one thing, self-improvement and biblical living have two very different goals. Self-improvement’s goal is to be happy while a Jesus follower’s goal is to be holy.
Holiness is God’s fundamental trait and his children are called to be holy, just like him.
1 Pet 1:15-16: 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (ESV)
Accepting Christ doesn’t come with a guarantee of an easier life (richer, healthier, more comfortable). Yes, Christ satisfies and knowing God brings us supreme joy, but that comes from dying to ourselves (Luke 9:23) and taking up the characteristics of God. This brings us to our next point.
Christians are called to self-abandon, not self-improve
Following Christ boils down to loving God and loving others like ourselves. Loving others like ourselves means placing their importance more than our lives.
John 15:12-13: This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (ESV)
The call to love others is more important than to obsess about improving ourselves. This is the opposite of the motivation behind self-improvement, which is to focus on our own achievements. Christian resolutions aim to expand our capacity to die to ourselves and to live for Christ and others.
Self-improvement’s chief aim is to satisfy one’s self, a Christian’s life strives to bring glory to God.
Aside from the different aims, self-development and biblical living have very different objects of glory. Self-help aims to honor oneself while the good works Christians are called to do need to point to God.
Matthew 5:16: Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Yes, Christians are called to manage their time and lives wisely, but with the aspiration to honor God. That means the values aimed at Christian living need to be in line with God’s characters: holy, loving, gracious, etc. Investing a lot of time and energy to look fabulous at the expense of taking care of your own family, for example, is contrary to God’s value.
The whys of the two concepts are entirely different.
Self-improvements rely on the self to help, Christians rely on God
Self-improvement seeks from within to get help, while Christian living is reliant on God. The Bible is centered around God as the source of joy, help, and power. If you look at the verses most often referred to in distress, they all center around depending on God’s grace for help.
1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (ESV)
Hebrews 13:5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (ESV)
Christians aim to please God and seek help from God and the Holy Spirit. We look externally to God as a source of our strength, while self-improvement looks internally to get help.
So no, the Bible isn’t a self-improvement book
For the Bible to be classified as a self-improvement book, the concepts and motivations between the two have to align. As we can see from above, the Bible is not a self-improvement book. The Bible is a God-centered book. Since God is the center, the self is secondary. Since God is the source of power, the self relies on him. Since God calls us to love him and others, the self cannot be the center of our lives.
The Christian life aims to surrender our lives to Christ and not to control ourselves. Scripture exists to guide us so that we can be close to God and honor him with our lives.
2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (ESV)
This explicit verse tells us that Scripture aims to make men of God equipped for every good work. The aim is always to serve others and not self-fulfillment.
Alright, now that we’ve established that the Bible is not a self-improvement book, how about self-development then? Clearly, Christians are called to be Godly people and they need to keep getting better at that.
Is self-development biblical?
We may resolve to eat right, exercising regularly to take care of our bodies. We can even borrow some scientifically backed methods to building habits such as reading the Bible for 10 minutes a day to get to know God better.
But in the Christian context, self-improvement means a larger capacity to love others and not ourselves. The goal is to become a better servant for those around us.
Whenever God blesses us, it is always to bless others. Through these blessings, God will be honored. The motivation behind how we improve ourselves matters. Are they selfish or serving?
2 Cor 9:11 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. (ESV)
Christians are called to put on the new self and leave behind the corrupt self with deceitful desires and put on the righteousness of God and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind (Eph 4:22-24).
What is personal development in Christianity?
In short, it is to die to ourselves, count others more important than us, and grow to be more like Christ every day. Yes, we’re called to change and be better. But what does the Bible say about growing? How do we get there?
One thing for sure is this: we cannot do it apart from Christ. We are meant to thrive when we are close to God. The Bible is filled with verses that say this.
John 15: 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (ESV)
2 Cor 3: 18-19: And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (ESV)
How do I become a better person with God? Our transformation comes from the Lord and we get there by beholding Jesus. We cannot do it with our own power and no amount of self-motivation will get us there.
In his sermon “How to Change,” Tim Keller says that there’s a reason why kindness, love, joy, patience, long-suffering, and the other characteristics are called fruits of the spirit and not traits of the spirit. Fruit means it is a product of a seed growing in us. A gardener cannot make the seed grow- a plant grows by itself. It can plant and water and try to make the environment conducive for growth and that’s all.
Similarly, what we can do is make time to abide in Him and prioritize time to know God – through prayer, Bible reading, fellowship. By seeing Christ more and more, we’ll grow to be more like him.
May we strive to grow and improve, but with full dependence on Christ our Lord.
FAQ
Is personal development a sin?
Personal development is not a sin as long as the concept that we adopt doesn’t contradict biblical principles and it’s not placed above God. Like eating well and exercising, they are good things that can add to our lives.
But we have to be careful when learning from self-help gurus because some of them teach concepts that are contrary to the Bible. For example, some believe that you have everything that you need within you and that all you need to do is release that power. That kind of teaching can lead us astray because it is not in line with what the Bible teaches.
The pursuit for self-development can also be a sin if it is placed in a higher priority compared to our other callings. For example, if a mother spends 5 hours a day outside of her work to self-improve and neglects her family, then it might be a signal that self-improvement has become an idol that is placed above God.
What does God say about believing in yourself?
The Bible doesn’t teach us to believe in ourselves. On the contrary, there are explicit verses that says trusting ourselves will not end well. Instead, it teaches us to seek help from God. Below are some verses that explain this.
Phil 4:13: I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (ESV)
Prov 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (ESV)
Prov 28:26 Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. (ESV)
What does the Bible say about personal change?
We are called to grow into the likeness of God every day. This is done by loving God and loving others as ourselves. Followers of Christ are new creations and are called to die to their old selves and build lives that are pleasing to God.
Eph 4:22-24 To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (ESV)
Rom 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV)
Sources:
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-christian-is-self-improvement
https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-i-change
