Review: The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness

The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness by Timothy Keller

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



In a booklet barely 40 pages long, Keller explains 1 Corinthians 3:21-4:7 and tackles pride, ego, despair, self-esteem and the condemnation of others and ourselves.

The more I read Keller the more I see a standard format that I like: not A, and not B, but C. Where the world falls into one ditch or the other, he shows the Way.

Here, the two ditches are low self-esteem and high self-esteem. Traditional cultures have dealt with guilt and explained sin by pointing to pride. We think too highly of ourselves and so misbehave. Modern culture deals with guilt and explains sin by pointing to low self-esteem: we think too lowly of ourselves and so misbehave!

Keller says, looking to 1 Corinthians 3-4, neither is right. Not even our own clear conscience justifies us. Instead of looking to ourselves for a guilty or innocent verdict, we look to Jesus Christ who has already brought us a verdict of innocent.

So we are free to forget ourselves. This is the great insight of this booklet. We are free from judging ourselves all the time. Our ego is busy, always comparing us to someone else and concluding that we fall short or that we are better. This falls into the ditch either way. Instead we should look to Christ's performance for our judgment and work for him.



View all my reviews