Is The Hierarchy Of Needs Biblical?

Heard of Maslow? 
 
He was brilliant, and his hierarchy of needs has stuck around for a long time. There must be something to it. 
 
According to Maslow, humans have needs in a particular order, starting with the basics. For the most part, once they get the basics, they start feeling the need for higher-order things. 


 



 
It’s a lot to take in but look at the titles for each level. 
 
Physiological – gotta have food, water, and oxygen. 
 
Safety - along with physiological, this applies to simply staying alive. 
 
However, Maslow understood that humans need more. They need: 
 
Love and belonging
Esteem 
Self-actualization 
 
Love and belonging are undoubtedly biblical. God said, “It’s not good for the man to be alone…” (Gen 2:18). 
 
How about esteem? Unlike some Christians, I genuinely believe it is unhealthy not to think well of ourselves. If we are in sin and need to repent and change, that is fine. Feel bad about that as you take it seriously so you can change. But assuming you are not willfully sinning, and you are saved by grace, then you need to esteem yourself, if for no other reason than God loves you, and you need to love whom He loves. 
 
When you meet someone who hates themselves, do you like them? Do you trust them? Do you want to be around them? Probably not, unless you hate yourself and can’t stand anyone who doesn’t. (Get some help!)
 
I believe healthy people will esteem themselves if they keep to their commitments. I wrote about this yesterday. If you didn’t see it, get it here.  
 
Now, what about self-actualization? 
 
According to Maslow, very few people are self-actualized. These happy few exhibit traits like
 

1. Clear perception of reality and comfortable relations with it. 
2. Acceptance of self and others. 
3. Natural and spontaneous. 
4. Focus on problems rather than self. 
5. Need privacy; tend to be detached. 
6. Autonomous. 
7. Continued freshness of appreciation. 

8. Mystic experience. 
9. Social interest. 
10. Interpersonal relations. 
11. Democratic character structure. 
12. Discrimination between means and ends. 
13. Sense of humor. 
14. Creativeness. 
15. Nonconformity. 

I like this list and believe these are solid biblical qualities. Let’s just look at one, number 8, mystic experiences. While I don’t think Maslow had purely Christian experiences in mind, they are easy to apply to a Christian. Jesus was quite self-actualized. I’m sure He had many mystical experiences, but one in particular stands out to me as one that would have had a massive impact. Luke 3:21-22 says, 
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son;  with you I am well pleased.” 
Could it be then that self-actualization comes first from experiencing God? I believe this’ll preach. Did this happen to the prophet Isaiah?
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” 
 
Did it happen to Peter after Pentecost? Moses? And many others? I think so. 
Has it happened to you? 
I don’t know if I’m self-actualized, and I am no therapist. But I like the idea. It sounds like health and wholeness. It sounds like knowing God. It sounds like trusting Him. It sounds like humility, joy, peace, and purpose. I’d like to surround myself with self-actualized people. 
I asked ChatGPT who Maslow thought was self-actualized. Whether it was telling the truth or not, I did not verify, but this is what it said: 
Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, William James, Jane Addams, and Aldous Huxley. 
What do you know about this crew? Would any of them have encountered Jesus? 
Finally, why does all this matter? I think it matters because Maslow discussed a need for a process of linear growth into wholeness that seems to be baked into the human spirit. I don’t see true self-actualization coming apart from first experiencing a God-actualization in your life. 
Do you see yourself somewhere in this process? Do you have physical needs met but suffer from a lack of love and belonging? Do you have love and belonging, but you’re still working for esteem? Does it help to think of yourself as needing to grow into it? How do you see all this fitting in with the discussion we’ve been having on values and value domains? 
I am praying for us all today to actualize God! 
Hey, if you ever have questions about faith, please respond to this email. I’ll answer if I can.