Originally posted 9/16/25
I am a pretty independent woman. I like to think I can do things on my own. Many would be surprised to hear that I didn’t pump my own gas the first ten years of my marriage. Even after thirty-eight years of marriage, it is not uncommon for my husband to take my car and put gas in it. I do not do yard work or any home maintenance other than painting.
Many times I have made comments like, “I don’t do that; I have a husband who does that.”
In every area of my life, I need others. Think for a minute what it would be like if you didn’t ever need anyone for anything? You could do everything yourself. You did not need any help from anyone. You had all the food and water you needed.
According to A.W. Tozer in his book, Knowledge of the Holy, “Whatever God is, and all that God is, He is in Himself. All life is in and from God, whether it be the lowest form of unconscious life or the highly self-conscious, intelligent life of a seraph. No creature has life in itself; all life is a gift from God.” p. 52
He goes on to say, “To admit the existence of a need in God is to admit incompleteness in the divine Being. Need is a creature- word and cannot be spoken of the Creator. God has a voluntary relation to everything He has made, but He has no necessary relation to anything outside of Himself. His interest in His creatures arises from His sovereign good pleasure, not from any need those creatures can supply nor from any completeness they can bring to Him who is complete in Himself.” pp. 52-53
I’ve heard many well meaning people say that God created us in order to have fellowship with us. God did not create anything to fulfill some need in himself. Being self-sufficient means that you do not need anything, including our company. Believing that give an elevated view of man. The very first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism is “What is the chief end of man?” Our chief end is to glorify God. We read in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Acts 17:24-25 tells us that God does not need us. “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything”. When we can say that we are not necessary to God, we have a right view of ourselves.
We always need God, but he never needs us. Personally it is comforting to know that God is not dependent on me. God is much more faithful to me than I am to him. Nothing God is depends on me or anyone else.
Father God,
You are supreme overall. Not only have you always existed, you are self-sufficient. We were made to glorify you. We tend to get an unhealthy view of ourselves, making us more important than we are. We need to keep a right view of ourselves and a right view of you.
In Your Name,
Amen
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