Who are YOU?

Who are you?

Have you ever spoken to yourself?

Please hold your Bible high for a moment. Now, I want to stand up and put your Bible on the chair behind you.

Next, I want you to remain standing and put your self on the chair beside your Bible.

Why is there so much confusion with that request?

You agreed that YOU spoke to your self. That suggests that YOU and your self are not the same.

Why then is it so challenging to separate your self from YOU?

The issue is that you have been hypnotized into accepting an illusion as YOU. The fact that you and that illusory sense of identity are NOT the same has become blurred.

You have no problem in establishing that your Bible is not YOU. Your chair is not YOU. Your dress or shirt is not YOU. Your self is also not YOU.

What we usually refer to when we say “I” is not who we are. The usual understanding of “I” is a misperception of a false sense of identity. That illusion of self is the EGO.

The EGOIC Mind is conditioned by the past – things that happened (content) and unconscious tendencies (structure). It forms the basis for all further interpretations of reality. It provides the filter through which we screen everything – thoughts, events, interactions, relationships. This illusion – Your EGO – shapes your entire reality.

People try to find themselves in the context of content. It is an exercise in futility. Content is temporal. It is never permanent. We get attached to something. It brings us satisfaction. That soon wears off and we have to search again for something that satisfies this false self – our EGO. And the cycle is repeated.

Spending time identifying how the EGO works so that we can recognize it when it appears is essential to achieving the transformation of our minds which is at the core of Christian living.

Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

If you do not take care to recognize the EGO it will trick you into thinking that it is YOU. You will be lulled into failing to separate the two and to identify with the EGO as if it is YOU.

It is critical to recognize that we are NOT the voice in our heads – the prompter. That voice in our heads is the EGO. It is actually the motivation for dysfunction that you carry around with you and indeed, appears to be YOU.

Humans in the normal state are fundamentally defective and collectively dysfunctional….. Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Sin means to “miss the mark”. There is something in us that leads us to miss the mark…. We do not quite get it.

The core cause is this false sense of self – the EGO. The EGO is caught up with the physical, with thoughts and with emotions. That is what Christians understand to be the world.

The world is at one end of the spectrum and God at the other. Focus on the world – the things on which the EGO is engaged – leads to a lack of connectedness with God.

Mark 4:18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

One fundamental problem is that the EGO tends to equate HAVING with BEING. It produces this illusion of ownership. That is the idea that having gives us a feeling of security and makes us stand out. The EGO thrives on comparison. We compare ourselves with others and how they view us is how we see ourselves.

The problem is that things are temporal – they are not permanent and consequently the EGO inevitably leads to heartfelt dissatisfaction and a sense of incompleteness. There is a sense in which we are “not enough.”

There are some concepts that go to the very structure of the EGO. We grapple with them daily. “Me”, “Mine”, “More than”, “I want”, “I need”, “I must have”, “not enough”. It is critical that you identify them and their actions in you. Failure to do so will give them control over you and you will find yourself acting out the unconscious thoughts that are tied to those words.

It is important to recognize that none of the things that the EGO seeks will satisfy you as long as the Egoic Mind is in place. No matter what you have or get, you will not experience lasting joy. You will be constantly seeking after fulfilment.

Ecc 1:14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

Spiritual maturity is tied to our ability to clearly see and live out the reality that what I perceive, experience, think or feel is ultimately not who I am. Who I am cannot be found in things that continuously pass away.

1 John 2: 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

For this reason it is important to learn more about your self so that we can identify it in action. Once you recognize the EGO, it is weakened. It might survive and reoccur from time to time but recognition weakens it and its hold on you.

EGOS live on Identification and Separation.

We have looked at its identification with having things as a means of gaining satisfaction. There is also identification (attachment) with the human body. The EGO is clever enough to draw attention to itself by being concerned with physiques and external attractiveness. Bear in mind that the EGO can also strengthen itself by creating illness.

The EGO is also attached to thoughts and to emotions.

The EGO also thrives on separation. For the concept of egoic “I” to flourish it needs the opposite thought of “Other”. The further the distance of “Other” from “I” the more “I” stands out. This drive of the ego to be separate actually fuels a need to find fault with others and to complain about them. When we put down others it makes us feel superior. Fault finding is a core function of the self that you are at risk of thinking is YOU.

Matt 7: 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?

Complaining and its emotional counterpart Resentment add energy to the false self. When we complain, we add emotions to it. We feel bitter, angry, aggrieved, offended. This strengthens self.
It has been observed that the egoic patterns that you react to most strongly in others and mistakenly take as their identity tend to be the same patterns that are also in you, but that you are unable or unwilling to detect within yourself.

The key is to recognize that the actions of the EGO is not who they are nor is it who you are. When you look through the EGO to the sanity that is in every one at their core essence you are able to go beyond the EGO in yourself and it also helps to correct the collective ego problem.
It is important to note that resentment is not limited to persons but also to situations which give the false self even more scope.

This capacity to look beyond and to avoid reacting to the Ego-driven actions of others is the essence of forgiveness. Forgiveness undermines a key strategy of the EGO. Forgiveness comes naturally when you recognize that the only purpose of grievance and resentment is to strengthen a false sense of self and to keep the EGO in place.

Whatever the behaviour that comes from the EGO, the hidden driving force is always similar: Need to stand out, to be special, to be in control, to have power, to get attention, to get more. Also, the need to feel a sense of separation (I am not like that).

The EGO is dysfunctional. It always has a hidden agenda. That is why Christ requires of us that we deny ourselves (that false self).

As you move to try to find out who you truly are, you reflect further on the EGO. The search for who you are is greatly assisted by knowing who you are not. We must understand that we are NOT the EGO.
Who you think you are is directly linked to how you think others are treating you. That shapes how you think about yourself. If you think that others are lavishing love upon you, you think that you are loved person.

One important consideration is that whatever you think the world is withholding from you, you are in fact withholding from the world! So, if you feel that you are missing something – start giving it. If you do not think that you have it – act as if you do and it will come to you. Then you give it and in turn you will receive it.

Luke 6: 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”