“Let go my ‘ego’”

 

We need to empty our lives of the accumulation of ego. Things that appeal to ego, or pride are what caused Lucifer to fall, Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit, person after person in the biblical record to fail, and is what Lucifer tempted Jesus with in the wilderness.

Ego and pride ruin marriages. Tear down businesses. Steal opportunities and kill friendships. We can’t make the mistake that inflated ego and pride are synonymous with confidence. Actually they are the exact opposites. People who are carried away with ego and pride are insecure people. Secure people are confident. Confidence is calm assurance that I am who God created me to be.

Ego and pride are what keep people from repenting. Many times our status with others is more important than our status with God. We need to make a decision that our lives will be centered on Christ, not around our wants, fears, passions, or desires, but around His purpose, plans, and destiny for our lives.

Can you imagine what it would be like to have all the essential attributes of God; His power, glory, omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence, and then give it all up, even for a season, and take on all the essential characteristics of man. Having to grow and develop, face temptations, limitations, and accusations. (Read Philippians 2:5-15 in the amplified).

It would be somewhat like a general in the military getting stripped of his authority and demoted to the level of a private with no authority. Jesus didn’t have his rank taken from him. He gave it. We are so busy trying to obtain rank in life that it would never cross our minds to strip ourselves of it. It would violate our ego and our pride. So how do we do it? First, we think like Christ thinks. We renew our minds according to His word. (Romans 12:1-2) Second, it takes action. (James 1:25) We need to obey especially when it hurts our pride and challenges our ego.

Several years ago, before I came to harvest I had a leadership conflict with a man on my elder team. I had to remove him from the team for behavioral issues. I was right in the situation, according to the bible and our leadership values. He was definitely in the wrong. It was a long, hard situation. Finally by the grace of God the whole thing subsided. The church moved on, we got healthy and had some great successes there. A couple years later we moved to another ministry, but I couldn’t seem to get past this hurt. I would pray, and study and my mind would go back to him, and how he hurt me and the church.

One night I was praying, and the Lord begin to deal with me about allowing my thoughts to be dominated by the past. I thought He was going to say, “You need to forgive him.”, but instead he said, “You need to call him and ask him to forgive you, ‘there are some things about that situation you could have handled differently’.”

My immediate response was, “no!” “Lord”, I said, “you know what he did.” Until He said, “David your life can not move forward until you get this out of the way, so be humble and apologize.” I begin to rehearse what I would say, maybe something like, “I don’t condone the way you acted but I could have handled it differently, I’m sorry.” To my ego that sounded great, I am reinforcing my judgment, yet doing what God said at the same time. I could here the Holy Spirit saying, “No, you are going to say, ‘I’m sorry that in our conflict I did not handle some things appropriately’.” And that’s it. I thought, “I can’t do this, it’s not right. The issue at this point wasn’t who was right or wrong, or even if I handled it right. The issue was if I didn’t get over it, I couldn’t move forward. I couldn’t be successful in ministry on a large scale. Thank God, he had me do this. So, I called him. I was expecting a cussing, literally. I thought He is going to tare into me. I was hoping to get an answering machine, but he finally picked it up. I told him who it was, and said, I’ve been praying and the Lord told me to call you. I just want to apologize because in our conflict I didn’t handle everything appropriately, and for that I’m truly sorry. I was amazed at his response. He said, “You know David, we did a lot of things wrong back then and I am sure it was hard for you to deal with. ‘Thanks for calling me’, he said, ‘and I apologize for my behavior’.” Wow! I was amazed, at his humility and how easy it was to change once you get pride out of the way.

One of my favorite scriptures in the bible is Galatians 2:20, especially as read from the message bible. “²⁰Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central…” So let’s empty our lives and take whatever action we need to help us move forward in the journey to turn things around. Forgive, release, but most importantly, Kill the ego and pride, and let humility lead you.

-David

 

When Compassion and Need Meet

    It’s interesting to me how uninterested we can be at times about real need.  I don’t think we are bad people, but there are a number of reasons why we turn our backs on needs around us and around the world.  One reason is denial.  I used to be the person who would see an informercial about starving children in Africa, the kids with bloated bellies and swollen bodies because of malnutrition, or the skeletal looking kids appearing to be just skin over bone, and plauged by flies all over everyone.  I would turn the channel as fast as I could.  I think, not because i didn’t care, but because i did care.  It was hard for me to understand how that could be real.  I mean, look around us in our culture.  We have our share of injustice, and there is plenty of poverty, and we have a responsiblity to help those who need it locally as well as globally, but we do the same things locally that we do globally, just ignore it.  Act like we don’t see it.  Turn the channel quick.

Another reason for a lack of interest in need is our personal pursuits.  We are so busy trying to be successful, which is a great pursuit, but we obsess to the point that we ignore need so as to not be inconvenienced by it.  Lets move from successful to significant and make a difference for others as well as ourselves.

There are many other reasons we turn our backs on need, the point is we do.  We can so easily forget how hard some people have it.  As long as we and our family are making it ok, we can forget that others are starving, we can forget there are kids right here in our city, being educated in schools that are completely underfunded.  We forget about precious wisdom in our elderly, consined to nursing homes never to be remembered or visited.  We forget about the literal millions of people who have been killed or are being killed by genocide, the systematic destruction of a people based on race or religion.  We forget about the millions of children around the world being sold like a posession after being kidnapped or bought in a multibillion dollar a year business called human trafficking.

I think if we would stop for a moment, and realize, someone has to take responsibility to help the forgotten, someone has to remember.  We would then act, like Jesus did.  If we would not deny but embrace the fact there are real issues, real people, real problems that need solutions. I think if we took the time to look long enough the compassion in our hearts would compel us to act.

Jesus, when he was on the earth, obviously had a strategy.  He had three and half years to teach, train, and develop 12 men to carry out His plan, and purpose of the Gospel once he was finished.  What I notice about him, however is he is never to busy to stop.  The bible talks many times about Jesus stopping and being moved with compassion.  When he saw the woman burying her only son, he stopped.  When He was asked by Jairus to heal his daughter he stopped and went with him.  While on His way, the woman with the issue of blood touched his garment and He stopped to speak with her.

There is another phrase I love in the bible.  “When Jesus passed by…”  In John 4, it says when Jesus passed by he saw a blind man.  We know what happened.  When He passed by the leper, he healed him, When he passed by the crippled, He healed them.  You see when Compassion and Need intersect there is a powerful opportunity for change.

So lets allow compassion to rise up in us, to shake us out of denial, and to stop our busy lives long enough to help with the needs of the forgotten.

Everyday we come to intersections of need, lets be fueled by compassion and remember the forgotten

David