Edging God Out is what happens every time EGO gets in the way. This Easter Season I have been meditating on what aspect of self needs to be laid on the Cross. I have become acutely aware of how my ego is the part of me that blocks the flow of His Resurrection Life and Spirit through my being.
Honestly, much of the time, I forget that the voice of compulsive thinking that echoes in my head is not who I truly am. It may offer clues of where I came from, in that the ego develops from upbringing and culture- but as long as I remain unaware of my true self, and instead identify with my ‘thinker’, believing its thoughts, I miss out on the life of Christ in me. His path, the scenery, flowers, and beauty around me – all are lost when my ego is in control.
Fortunately, it is becoming easier to recognize when the ego is running my life. Its voice is blaming, accusing, fault finding, and complaining. When I am in the grip of the stories that the mind makes up, these symptoms are the result. Jesus addressed this when He asked, "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" Even though we don’t know of any response to His question, the answer seems obvious; putting others down is our ego’s attempt to feel bigger and ‘better than’.
Lately, I have been asking God to wake me up when I am unconscious to the ego’s rule. I want to discern whether His Spirit or the ego is driving my viewpoints, reactions, interpretations, and opinions. The fruit of the Spirit (peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, etc.) is so much sweeter than the judgmental diet of the ego. Like Sesame Street’s cookie monster, the ego has a voracious appetite, only this ‘ego monster’ craves and feeds upon the refuse of negative emotional energy.
The ego attempts to define us. It creates a false identity and until it dies, emotional pain will be our unavoidable companion. I invite you this Easter to embrace the cross so that we can crucify this mental parasite.
Jesus wants to be our Life, the very breath of our soul. The great I AM is actually at the center of every believer’s being, but distracted by the ego, we find Him not. My prayer is that as we commune with Him, He would grant to each one of us, “according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man.” (Ephesians 3:16) It is in His Name that we agree, Amen!
Until next time, Blessings! ~ Deb