Beware Of The Ego Trap!

There were times when I was growing up (and through most of my adulthood, too) that I would get a big ego trip about something that I was doing that was going well. Funny thing though is that soon after that, something would happen that had a tendency to humble me very quickly, too. For me, I see that it was having God in my life and He needed to teach me some more things because of who He wanted me to become later on (although I certainly didn’t know it at that time but I can see it now).

So, the question became, how can I have a big ego and serve a BIG God? The thing is, is that I can’t. No one can! When we put ourselves and our own accomplishments OVER the God that loves us, then we are serving only ourselves, instead.

Here is what it says in the Bible about egos (even though the word ego doesn’t come up, the word is more closely related to our pride, our arrogance and our selfishness): In James 4:6, the Bible states that God is against those who are proud, but He gives grace to those who are humble; In Proverb 16:18, the Bible states that having an inflated sense of self-importance sets a person up for a big fall; and In Matthew 23:12 and Luke 14:11, Jesus taught us that whoever tries to make themselves great or above others will be brought low.

So, be very, very, VERY careful when you start to think more of yourself. You need to be aware of the ego trap that you may be falling into!

What does God want from us?

It’s pretty simple really. He wants us to be be humble, remember that EVERYTHING that we have is from God (our talents, our health, etc.) and that we ALWAYS should follow Jesus’s example. After all, Jesus is the Son of God who came to Earth not to be served, but to serve others. Through that, He also showed us the true meaning of serving each other. In fact, He loved us so much that He died on a cross to save us from our sins and rose from the grave in three days. There was certainly no big ego there!

What did I learn from this? My favorite verse of all time comes from Proverbs 31:25- “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” I ONLY have strength because it comes from the One who knew me before I was even born. My dignity and worth comes from Him and I can laugh at the days to come because I know that He walks with me in the amazing journey that I have been on. So, I have checked my ego at the door because I also know that I have more to learn and I know that He’s not done with me yet. As they say, “The best is yet to come!” (Related post: The Faith-Fueled Journey)

So, what can you gain from this? Humble yourself before God. Think carefully before your speak. Act differently because He knows who you can become if you put your faith in Him. When you do all that? You begin to see a happier version of yourself. You begin to see the worldly things that occur around you, differently. The world hasn’t changed, you have. You came to God one way, but now you have become a new creation through serving Him and serving His people. (Related post: A Healing Transformation)