Timothy J. Keller

The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness

Timothy Keller's slim but powerful book The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness takes its central argument from 1 Corinthians 3:21–4:7, where the apostle Paul describes a peculiar kind of ego — one that is neither puffed up with pride nor crushed by self-criticism, but rather quietly, joyfully empty of itself. Keller contends that the restless, painful preoccupation with self that marks modern life is not solved by higher self-esteem or lower expectations, but by the gospel: the liberating truth that in Christ our identity is secure, our verdict is already in, and we are therefore free to stop thinking about ourselves altogether. The result is not self-deprecation, but a lightness — what C.S. Lewis described as a person who has truly forgotten themselves in loving God and others.