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Jesus exemplified this – from the manger to the cross.
One of the greatest obstacles and enemies in serving the Lord is our own ego. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said to His disciples, “ Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak ” (Matthew 26:41). Our ego repeatedly causes us to fall and get into trouble. Fallen nature is opposed to and rebellious against the nature and will of God. Self-realization, self-affirmation, and self-satisfaction are often the driving forces in service, not love for God and for others. “ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do what you want ” (Galatians 5:17).
The following story could be read in the magazine "Christianin" from 1927:
A pastor came home after a Sunday service. Satisfied with the state of his congregation, he sat at his desk and suddenly had a vision: A well-dressed man entered the room. In his hand, he carried various apothecary tools—scales, test tubes, a Bunsen burner, and so on. “Are you the pastor?” he asked, and immediately afterward, “Do you have devotion in ministry?” From his breast pocket, the pastor took out his devotion in the form of a chocolate bar and gave it to him. The man placed it on the scales and then wrote on a piece of paper: “The servant’s devotion for measuring God’s reward = 100 grams.”
The pastor jumped for joy, but the man looked at him with such astonishment that he immediately understood the investigation was not yet over. He then broke his devotion into small pieces, placed them all in a test tube, and set it on the Bunsen burner to melt them. Everything turned into a thick, viscous mass. As he allowed the mass to cool, it formed a piece composed of many different layers. He then separated these layers and weighed each one individually.
He wrote the results in a list that looked like this:
1) Adjustment 10 parts
2) In Search of One's Own Honor (23 parts)
3) Proud of his title 11 parts
4) Lust for power (12 parts)
5) Search for praise 19 parts
6) Pride in Talents 14 pieces
7) Love for God (4 parts)
8) Love for people (4 parts)
9) Pure, genuine devotion (3 parts)
Total: 100 pieces
At the end of this analysis, he gathered his belongings, looked at the pastor with pity, and said to him, "May God save you!" Then he left. The pastor read the note again, crumpled it in his hand, and said, "Surely it can't be that so much filth was mixed into my devotion to serving God and humanity. Lord, what is this?"
Then the Holy Spirit spoke to him: “Mene, Mene Tekel, and Parsin. You were weighed on the scales and found wanting.” He fell to his knees. Before, he had prayed, “Lord, save me from hell.” But now he prayed constantly, “Lord, save me from my ego, from myself.”
It is necessary that we ask God to redeem us from our ego.
These sins aren't direct acts of sin and therefore aren't visible at first glance. Like a room that appears clean at first glance. But when you start looking behind the bed and in the closet, you suddenly find so much filth that it becomes embarrassing. How much selfishness and self-love, personal ambition and pride are present in our lives? God wants to examine us today so that we look a little deeper within ourselves than we usually do. It's necessary that we ask God to redeem us from our ego. That's why we are sensitive and easily offended when we are criticized or admonished.
In the Epistle of James, we read that envy and strife are things that destroy much in our lives: “ Who among you is wise and understanding? Let them show it by their good conduct, through deeds performed in the meekness that comes from wisdom. But if bitter envy and selfish desire are in your hearts, do not boast or lie against the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes from above, but is earthly, spiritual, demonic. For where envy and selfish desire are, there is disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, kind, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and free from hypocrisy. Peacemakers sow the fruit of righteousness in peace ” (James 3:13-18).
This is our ego – earthly, spiritual, and demonic. Disorder and all sorts of evil things like family disputes, disintegration, broken relationships, and divisions are the consequences found in the church and in Christian families. In James, God repeatedly calls for humility and peace:
“Where do the fights and quarrels among you come from the passions that wage war within you? You desire and do not have; you murder and covet and cannot obtain it; you quarrel and fight, yet you do not have it, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity against God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that Scripture speaks in vain? The Spirit who lives in us is jealous, but his grace abounds. This is why he says, ‘ God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded! Be miserable, mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom! Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you ” (James 4:1-10).
Are we ready today to limit or even completely give up our hobbies and activities for Jesus and His work?
God actually calls for this in the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 20). Yet we humans prefer to lie, steal, commit adultery, kill, covet, and so on. We see the terrible consequences when our ego prevails and we are unable to keep it in check in countless examples around us and in the Bible: Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, Cain killed his brother Abel, Saul persecuted David and murdered the priests at Nob, David committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband, Judas betrayed Jesus… This list could go on and on: family dramas, murder, marital crises, and so forth, simply because people let their ego rule.
Paul writes: “I have been crucified with Christ ” (Galatians 2:19). God’s will was paramount for Paul. His own life meant nothing to him anymore. Shame, disgrace, persecution, slander, beatings, imprisonment, danger, and hostility were his daily reality. Serving and glorifying Christ meant everything to him—even if it meant death. Are we today ready to limit or even completely abandon our hobbies and activities for Jesus and His work? Am I willing to take a back seat? How do I react when I am misunderstood, overlooked, ignored, rejected, or despised? How do I treat other co-workers and fellow believers? Condescendingly, or can I value them more highly than myself?
Regarding Jesus, Philippians says: “ [He] humbled himself […] and became obedient to death—even death on a cross ” (Philippians 2:8). How far am I able to put myself and my desires aside?
“ Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it ’” (Matthew 16:24-25). “ Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it ” (Matthew 10:38-39).
May God give us the strength to live such a life. Jesus showed us how, from the manger to the cross. How do we follow Him?
Ernst Fischer
Municipality of Cloppenburg