Ego

[rick]

Sometimes I think ego and the man of sin are one in the same, , to me ego is the natural man, the way God has created us.

Ego is something in me I find to be a constant battle however small or great, when at a meeting I want to give the best answers or defend my position regardless what it may be just as long as Im right, thats all that matters.

Ego is prideful , this past summer when riding my motorcycle  I loved people coming up to me and saying what a beautiful bike.

Perhaps all of Gods work is destoying the ego within, or maybe the ego is just the last frontier of Gods work with the human race.

Ego , or the man of sin,  I wonder if they are one in the same. whats your take on it.

God bless.

[lilitalienboi16]

The man of sin, the anti Christ, the beast, the lawless one, can be summed up in the statement, 'Flesh and blood is not able to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.'

The old man must die. Buried with Him in baptism. 'I am crucified with Christ.' You know all those things which cannot have their part in the kingdom but rather must be cast into the lake of fire. They number beyond ego.

Jesus is the way, He is our example, everything that He is we are to become. Imitate Him. These are the things which form the foundation and from which the entire body is built up. He is the door we must pass through. Picking up our cross and denying ourselves goes beyond ego. The ten commandments were our tutor to bring us to Christ and they forbid more than just ego yet now we have the new covenant which is not like the old in which looking at a women to lust after her is committing adultery!

So why limit it to only ego? Sure ego is one of the many facets but it is not THE facet.

Anything aside from Jesus is not worthy and must be put off. Christ is the sacred secret of God in whom is hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge! (Col 2:2-3)

My two pennies on the matter 

God bless,
Alex

[lilitalienboi16]

Here is some good encouragement. Its beautiful in fact.

Gal. 5:13-26

13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Romans 12:1-3
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Romans 12:16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own conceits.

1 Corinthians 4:7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

God bless,
Alex

[rick]

Hi Alex

I love the scriptures you put fourth as well as the addition to the ego, I thought about how you added flesh and blood cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.

I guess one could say that when flesh and blood are destroyed the only thing that will remain will be Christ or one could say when the ego is destroyed only Christ will remain.

The man of sin is full of ego, The man of God is humble.
Thanks for your input and addition to the meaning of ego.

God bless.

[Kat]

Ego - one's image of oneself - morale; self-esteem; self-importance; egotism; conceit:
Origin From Latin ego ("I").

Hi Rick, I'm thinking you may have hit upon something here. As I was studying it's meaning, it seems to me that ego may be the exact opposite of humility. This 'ego' must be what Alex was quoting "The old man must die. Buried with Him in baptism." Maybe that's what John was expressing in this verse.

John 3:30  He must increase, but I must decrease.

It seems that ego is our, natural/carnal, view of our self as of greater value than others, and that 'I' must not only preserve 'self,' but advance self as much as possible. Whereas to be humble is to make self lower in status, prestige, or esteem - "decrease" self, and ultimately learn how to totally depend on Christ.

Here is a few things that Ray said about it.

http://bible-truths.com/lake15.html ---------------------------

I stated earlier that it is through LAW that God controls all things in the universe. Only the ego of the carnal mind is so great that it actually believes it is the exception to the universal rule, and is not subject to law, but is free from law. I tell you assuredly, it is not exempt from law.
v
Not only does the theory of free will demand that man be able to think uncaused thoughts and performed uncaused tasks, but that he can in fact, do these uncaused things contrary to and in opposition to God's preordained stated plan and purpose. He must be blind indeed, who cannot or will not see that such a haughty presumption lifts such an one's ego to that of a veritable "god' in his own heart and mind.

http://bible-truths.com/kennedy2.htm ------------------------

You see, to the theological peanut galleries of the world, if God is responsible for everything in His creation, then He couldn't be justified in burning billions in eternal Hell fire! But if they can make man responsible, then it's his own doing. But for man to be responsible, God would have had to have given him much greater powers than even our Lord ever possessed.

"Verily, verily, I am saying to you, The Son can not be doing anything of Himself ... " (John 5:19).

Are we greater than our own Lord? Answer:

" ... apart from Me you can do nothing." (Jn. 15:5).

Well, there it is. God has given man no such powers.

"It is not in man to direct his own steps" (Jer. 10:23).

I know that this verse is shocking to contemplate. It is a real ego deflator. People do not want their self-esteem brought that low. They love to talk humble pie, but they won't eat it. If God tells us we can't even "direct our own steps," pray what can we do by ourselves? The true and Scriptural answer is just as shocking:

" ... for apart from Me [Christ] you can do NOTHING" (John 15:5).

I know this truth is too high for most. Most don't really meditate on such verses. They certainly would never preach a sermon on them. They wouldn't be able to take credit for their own salvation anymore (if they actually believed these Scriptures). They would be forced to get rid of all their self worth. They couldn't feel all puffed up like the King of Assyria if they acknowledged God's total Sovereignty in their lives. They don't have to believe it now. God isn't breaking anyone's arm to accept these truths.
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mercy, peace and love
Kat

[indianabob]

Thank you Kat,
Well said and helpful.
I-Bob

[rick]

Its just my opinion but when I hear terms like flesh and blood or the man of sin or even self I don't relate to those terms as much as I do ego.

Ego is a term that I can relate more so with than the other terms,  When I think of Christ working with me I ask what is He working with or on ?

Christ has been showing me or letting me understand that ego is the real me ! Everything I do is about self preservation , I guess that is the best way to sum it up, self preservation.

Thats what I feel and believe is what Christ must crush or grind to powder,  I guess in the end its all the same thing flesh and blood, the man of sin or I and me, either way I must decrease and He must increase. I just find I have a better comprehensive understanding when I think of myself as the man of ego because its what Christ shows me that is in me and so when ego rares its ugly head I know its me and not Christ but I also know its Christ showing me who and what I am.

Its kind of funny sometimes because ego doesn't want to let go but Christ won't stop until He finishes the work He started, but one thing is for sure one can really trust in Christ our God.

God bless all.

[cjwood]

rick,
your thread reminded me of something i have been thinking lately about this world.  the terms "pull yourself up by your boot straps", "you need more self esteem", "you need to stay positive and everything will work out", "you, you, you", "i, i, i" blah blah blah is becoming so prevalent in today's society.  there is much to be learned from the story of the king of assyria.  he would have fit in nicely with today's world of ego. 

although the song goes "i did it MY way", it is a lie straight from satan himself.  we know there is only One Way. 

claudia

[rick]

rick,
your thread reminded me of something i have been thinking lately about this world.  the terms "pull yourself up by your boot straps", "you need more self esteem", "you need to stay positive and everything will work out", "you, you, you", "i, i, i" blah blah blah is becoming so prevalent in today's society.  there is much to be learned from the story of the king of assyria.  he would have fit in nicely with today's world of ego. 

although the song goes "i did it MY way", it is a lie straight from satan himself.  we know there is only One Way. 

claudia

Hi Claudia,

How true, I read a book by Mark Twain, What is man, the book is a total mind blower. although he claimed to not believe in God, God used him to write this book.

God bless

[Joel]

It's amazing how long the list of people is throughout history, that claim to have achieved their success because they are a self-made man or woman through their own hard work, and perseverance.

Joel

[rumpelstiltskin]

It's amazing how long the list of people is throughout history, that claim to have achieved their success because they are a self-made man or woman through their own hard work, and perseverance.

Joel

this covers most people I know