Ego

Sermon Gist: Ego

This sermon on ego and dealing with it started with a reflection on:

• What ego is: What you consider yourself; your opinion of yourself and your abilities.
• Structure of our ego: Believes about our personality, believes about our talent, and believes about our abilities.

It is a mental construct of our self which is ‘artificial’. These are the manifestations of egoist perceptions:

• I’m smart 
• Nobody likes me
• I’m better than you
• My freckles make me ugly
• That was stupid of me
• I’m not good at math

Do not let the world define you. The above statements that people repeat to themselves are either overly positive, incorrect, negative. Don’t let them be reinforced. The preacher shared a personal experience about when a negative comment a cousin made about him that impacted for years until he got over it. Let us remember that we all are uniquely created for God’s purpose. The following are the other concepts spoken about during the sermon:

• Ego unmasked: Instead of ego, we need confidence without arrogance and humility without insecurity. Basically, let us strive for a self-image without ego.
• Spotting ego: Ego can hide behind opinions that appear true. An easier way to spot ego is by trail of emotional reactions it leaves behind: Anger at a loved one, a need to be right, a feeling of insecurity in certain situations, feelings of jealousy that are unexplained, and the need to impress someone.

If you correct me and I get offended, I have an ego problem. Spiritual people have ego issues too. We are brand ambassadors of Christ and should not display an ego. We need a mechanism to deflate pride whenever the ego bloats. The preacher spoke at length about the “Problem of Self”. Today’s society is consumed with self: Self help books, commercials, diets, fitness, and so on. The darker side of the issue is that theft, immorality, murder, and other such evils are often rooted in a poor self-image. Ever since the garden of Eden, the chief cause of evil is sin and selfishness. The following are the verses we considered:

• James 1:13-15: Evil desire is at the root of all sin.
• Matthew 16:24: To be a successful Christian, one must heed the command of Jesus here.
• 1 Corinthians 13:4: A beautiful passage on love, one of the first things Paul mentions about love’s character is that “love never boasts”.
• Proverbs 3:10: Pride breeds quarrel.
• Philippians 2:3-4: We are to look out for the interests of others and to esteem them better than self.
• 1 John 4:7: We must love one another.
• Proverbs 28:13: We need to admit/confess egoistical tendencies and work to get rid of them.
• 1 John 3:11-12: Cain’s selfishness caused him to hate his brother and kill him.
• Matthew 7:5: Instead of being hypocritical, we must first take the plank out of our own eye, and then we will see well enough to remove the speck from our brother’s eye.

Let us remember that relationships never die a natural death. They are always murdered by attitude, ignorance, and ego. A proper attitude to self is a sign of maturity. In the past, God overlooked such ignorance but now He commands all people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).
We also looked at some Biblical instances of selfishness and pride:

• Cain asked in Gen. 4:9: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” We are as God’s people are our brothers’ keepers.
• 1 Kings 21 shows us how Ahab’s pride produces manipulation and misunderstanding. He converted Naboth’s vineyard and sulked. When he could not get it, his wicked wife killed Naboth and gave the land to her husband as a gift. They gave no thought to Naboth or his family.
• King David’s life in 2 Samuel 11 illustrates how selfishness led to lies and premeditated murder.
• James and John in Matthew 20:21 seemed to aspire for the most prestigious and powerful positions in Jesus’ kingdom.
• The older brother of prodigal son in 1 John 4:20-21. We may claim to love God but if we do not love our brother, we don’t really love God.

Let us understand that pride postpones reconciliation, places undue emphasis on self, leads to self-centredness and absorption in self. It prevents intimacy. 1 John 1:6-7 tells us that if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with each other. When in relationships, our motives should not be selfish. Other ills that ego leads to are:

• Self-conceit: Being full of pride. An overconfident and exaggerated opinion of self (Proverb 16:18, James 4:6-10, Luke 18:14, and Romans 12:3)
• Self-willed: Stubborn like Jonah and the Jews (Acts 7:51-53) who stoned Stephen.
• Self-indulgence: Buying things to make you happy. Free run to one’s own passions and inclinations (Demas in 2 Timothy 4:10).
• Self-righteousness: Pharisee and tax collector (Luke 18:9-14), Israelites zeal not based on knowledge (Romans 10:1-3), and “Why does the Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:10-13).
• Self-satisfaction: Being pleased with who or what one is. Such a person has reached his goal and thinks there is no more to achieve like the Sardis church (Rev 3:1).

The cure for these is to put the self to death using:

• Self denial: Matthew 16:24, Luke 9:23, Philippians 2:3, John 13:3-17, and 1 Peter 5:6
• Self control: The one who exercises proper self-control brings every thought into conformity with the will of God (Proverbs 16:32 and Galatians 5:23).
• Self sacrifice: Live a life of self-sacrifice so that the Father and Son are glorified (2 Corinthians 8:5 and Romans 12:1-2).

Examples of selflessness in the Bible

• Abraham (Genesis 13): He let Lot choose the best.
• Joseph (Genesis 45): Took no revenge from his brothers.
• Good Samaritan (Luke 10): Could have walked away but he cared.
• Barnabas (Acts 4): Saw the needs of brethren and sold his land for the Lord’s cause.
• Paul (Galatians 2:20): Selflessly have himself to the Lord and faced extreme trials, tests, and temptations.
• Jesus (Phil 2:1-8): Son of God gave up His divinity and chose to serve.

Being humble means recognising that we are not on earth to see how important we can become. As believers, each one of us has the ministry of reconciliation. We also looked at how Jesus did it: Matthew 4:3-7. When people challenge us, our response should be seasoned and people must sit up and notice. When Satan challenged His identity as Son of God, Jesus remains detached and used the word of God. Be deeply rooted in the word to respond correctly.
We must let go your ego and accept your imperfections. Nobody’s perfect so let us not operate under the impression (Romans 12:3, Proverbs 20:9, and Romans 3:23). God know that we are imperfect, He wants us to know this and recognize God’s grace (1 Corinthians 4:7). He works from the base of grace but we work from the base of pride. We need to experience God’s unconditional love (Romans 5:8). This love is freely offered because of God’s goodness, not our own.
If we could put aside our egos and physical bodies, only God’s light while remain. When nails grow long, we cut nails not fingers. Similarly when misunderstandings grow, we must cut the ego and not the relationship. Much ego is due to our background and how we are brought up but we must ask ourselves if we have a spiritual balance?