Confront Thyself: EGO
This month, Seele Magazine’s Friday Posts will be a part of a new series titled ‘Confront Thyself,’ with Proverbs 27:19 as our guide, with this idea, as if you’re looking at your heart and your soul in a mirror- what do you see? Chief Editor, Ally will present 5 issue areas that you may be struggling with that are ungodly and can’t come any further into 2020, unless you want a repeat of 2019.
Last week we looked at unforgiveness, today the topic of ego is on the table. It’s when we put our egos in check that we will live more fulfilling lives.
Edging God Out = EGO
Just this week Seele Contributor, Thomasena Thomas wrote about ‘dying to self.’ Human nature in its raw form is all about me, me, me and our social media age doesn’t help with this. We’re hungry for likes, showing off our profiles with duck faced lip photos, or of who we’ve met, or what we’re eating. But, we weren’t created to be egotistical and stuck on ourselves, we were created to uplift others and serve others with the skills/gifts and talents God has given us.
And while in its raw form, human desire wants to be worshiped, God has a clear standard for this. He is the only one who should be worshiped, and for a more fulfilling 2020, if we are more aware of our egotistical urges, then we can live free from the bondage of needing people to like our posts or give us praise.
The opposite of ego is humility and I find when I volunteer and sit with the lowly, or just serve friends that I’m reminded that life is not about me, but about God and thinking of others as more highly than myself. I often sit and think about this: that in a world where people are looking for authenticity in relationships, we, at the same time are looking to be worshiped. The two contradict each other. It’s like, “I want true people around me, but hold on a second, let me go to Instagram and see how many likes my last post got.”
Paris Spring/ Summer 2020 Haute Couture shows just finished. If you want to see ego at its highest, go to a fashion show or walk a red carpet. Everyone from journalists, influencers, stylists, buyers, and clients of designers at fashion shows think they are the beez-neez. Hiding behind dark sun glasses and high-end luxury-wear, it’s hard to find authentic people. Two guys came up to me saying, “you’re so nice and seem so real, I’m so tired of two-faced people, let’s get a coffee post fashion week.” I wish I could take credit but it’s honestly Christ living in me that I don’t conform to the ego of fashion. I go in, do my job, but I’m not consumed by the industry. And it’s my desire to not let ego in fashion journalism, yes journalists can be very egotistical, make me thing I’m the beez-neez. I honestly am in the industry with a Kingdom mindset to shine the light of Jesus, the model of how not have an inflated ego.
It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in or if you live in a big city or small city, we’re all looking for authentic relationships. We eventually realize that having real people around and in our lives is what’s most important. And the ego that’s inflated from likes and people’s praise won’t sustain, because if there’s a moment you don’t get any likes or hardly any likes, or someone rejects you, who once showed you acceptance, you’ll be broken in some way. Gary Vaynerchuk and Lecrae are proponents of this idea, to not care what others think about you.
“If you live for people’s acceptance, you’ll die from their rejection.””
It takes humbling of oneself, a dying to self for a person’s ego to be broken. We can’t expect to have a solid relationship with God if we’re seeking human praise. So, let’s leave human praise and thinking we’re the beez-neez at the door in 2020, and seek to praise God through serving others and walking with Him. When we do that we’ll have a more fulfilling life.