Maslov’s Theory or God’s Certainty

One of the elders at my church teaches a very engaging Sunday School class. He is a tenured professor at one of Nashville’s most prominent universities. He is a very intelligent, yet very humble man. His class is insightful & thought-provoking.

One Sunday, he discussed “Maslov’s Theory” and how it compared to our spiritual lives.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" in Psychological Review. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid with the largest, most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom and the need for self-actualization at the top. "What a man can be, he must be."  This quotation forms the basis of the perceived need for self-actualization. This level of need refers to what a person's full potential is and the realization of that potential. Maslow describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

 

A theory is defined as “an idea that is suggested or presented as possibly true but that is not known or proven to be true.” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theory Do we want to live our lives by man’s ideas or God’s promises?
Society encourages us to seek the ultimate pinnacle of “Self-actualization.” This is the ultimate level of “satisfying” self. Maybe we should seek "God - actualization":  the level as the desire to accomplish everything that God knows you can, to become the most that God created you to be.

The Bible references often that man was created by God and should seek to be like Him:

Genesis 1:27 (NKJV): “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

Jeremiah 1:5 (NKJV): “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 29:11(NKJV): “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Matthew 6:33 (NKJV): “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Colossians 1:15 (NKJV): “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”

We should seek to satisfy the Lord and be the best He wants us to be.

“You were made by God and for God and until you know that this life will not make sense." - unknown

“Life isn’t about finding yourself, it’s about discovering who God created you to be.” - unknown

Is your ultimate goal to seek “self –actualization” or “God-Actualization?”