I volunteer as a fire chaplain at a local volunteer fire company. On one of the training walls in the bay where they park the fire engines, there's a sign stressing what they do and the importance of working as a team. The sign reads: Leave Your Ego at The Door.
Sitting there one day, I pondered the meaning of that sign and its relevance to my spiritual life, my relationship with God.
The Holy Spirit lit a fire inside me, telling me it was time for me to start learning how to check my ego at the foot of the Father's throne.
We all have egos that give us a sense of self-esteem, a feeling of self importance. However, when we wear our ego as a crown, instead of laying it at the feet of God's throne, bad things can happen.
When Our Ego Rules
When we let our ego take charge, it prevents us from doing what needs to get done, often in the face of our better judgement. Our decision-making process gets sidetracked, leading us astray into emotional terrains we should have avoided.
Our egos are happy when we feel superior and feed that emotion. But when things don't go our way, our positive emotions quickly turn negative. Mistakes are made and our ego sulks away, disappointed and deflated.
At the extreme end of the emotional spectrum, when our ego is in unfettered command, it can leads to narcissistic tendencies, turning us into self-loving, selfish creatures.
Results of Offering Up Our Ego
When we leave our ego before the throne of God, we place God's purpose above ours. Our goals are not just secondary. Our goals become the same as God's.
When we leave our ego before the throne of God, we see ourselves as totally unworthy before God, no matter what we do and how hard we try. We see ourselves as God sees us.
When we leave our ego before the throne of God, we admit that all our gifts and blessings come from God. There is absolutely not one thing for which we can take complete credit.
When we leave our ego before the throne of God, we know we empty ourselves to God’s holy Word and what God expects from us.
When we leave our ego before the throne of God, our mind is directed outward, away from ourselves.
When we leave our ego before the throne of God, as part of our lifestyle, our way of thinking, we seek to acknowledge our insufficiency before God and answer his call to serve others using our God-given gifts.
When we leave our ego before the throne of God, we are teachable, ready to learn from others. Our life becomes an open-ended question.
When we leave our ego before the throne of God, we are deliberately mindful of our part in God's plan as we serve with a lowly spirit in the face of God's overwhelming love for us
When we leave our ego before the throne of God, we recognize our imperfection, and what we need to get right.
"Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
(Hebrews 4:16)
In the Words of Others
“As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on thing and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.” C.S. Lewis-Mere Christianity
“The more humble and obedient to God a man is, the more wise and at peace he will be in all that he does.” Thomas a Kempis-The Inner Life
Also visit:https://www.garypgoerk.com/post/the-many-faces-of-humility-and-humble-lifestyle
Comments