“Faith is the foundation of success; I believe the future holds greater promise than the present, and within me lies the power to shape it.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
Staying Rooted in the Comfortable=Dread
“We cling to the familiar, even when it no longer serves us, be it a job, a relationship, or even a vocation of the past. We ignore our ability to choose and let our inner drive and passion dwindle in an inauthentic life. We may adopt prescribed roles and behaviors to avoid the anxiety of genuine self-creation. This inauthenticity, however, only deepens the underlying dread.”
Inauthentic living is a mental and spiritual prison we create for ourselves. Gospel humility frees us to create an authentic life rooted in God’s grace and presence in our lives.
Blessing of Interruptions
“life’s disruptions—a sudden illness, a job loss, the end of a relationship, or even a global event—can shake us out of our complacency and force us to confront what truly matters. They can be a wake-up call, prompting us to examine our choices and the lives we’ve built. While challenging, these experiences can also be profound opportunities for self-discovery and a re-evaluation of our values and priorities. They remind us of our inherent freedom to choose how we respond to life’s challenges and create a more authentic and meaningful existence.”
Source: Ibid.
Interruptions, failures, set-backs are opportunities to evaluate our core beliefs, values, and virtues. Recall that virtues are values practiced on a daily basis. Virtues establish our character and assist us in living authentically. When we discern that we’re thinking or living unaligned to our values, we change course and re-align.
Consider your car’s alignment: over time a vehicle’s alignment gets off and needs to be adjusted. This happens as a vehicle encounters bumps, potholes, etc. Keeping the vehicle aligned and tires properly rotated ensures even wearing and extends life of the tires.
Choice
“Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.” Roy T. Bennett
Our choices create our identity. That’s why choice is important to our spiritual path. God guides us as we seek to follow and walk in His ways.
Ego: The “I’ in our lives
Verywell explains the term ego in this post:
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-ego-2795167
Timothy Keller gives us a way forward in his short book: “The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness.” He connects the Gospel with a proper view of self identity. He explains how ego seeks recognition and is connected to pride:
“The ego often hurts. That is because it has something incredibly wrong with it. Something unbelievably wrong with it. It is always drawing attention to itself – it does so
every single day. It is always making us think about how we look and how we are treated. People sometimes say their feelings are hurt. But our feelings can’t be hurt! It is the ego that hurts – my sense of self, my identity. Our feelings are fine! It is my ego that hurts.”
“My ego would not hurt unless there was something terribly wrong with it.
Think about it. It is very hard to get through a whole day without feeling snubbed or ignored or feeling stupid or getting down on ourselves. That is because there is
something wrong with my ego. There is something wrong with my identity. There is something wrong with my sense of self. It is never happy. It is always drawing attention to itself.”
Keller explains four reasons why the ego hurts:
“So, first of all, it is empty. Secondly, because it is like a bloated stomach that is distended, it is also painful. And, thirdly, the ego is incredibly busy – in other words, it is
always drawing attention to itself. . .And lastly, as well as empty and painful and busy, the ego is fragile. That is because anything that is overinflated is in imminent danger of being deflated – like an overinflated balloon.
“
What it means to be free: Gospel Humility
Free pdf version of Timothy Keller’s “The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness”
A truly gospel-humble person is not a self-hating person or a self-loving person, but a gospel-humble person.
What does this mean? Daniel Jang explains:
“The true Gospel humility is blessed self-forgetfulness – not thinking more of myself as in modern cultures, or less of myself as in traditional cultures but simply thinking about myself less and focusing on being a blessing to others. A heart that is open to Christ will be open to those He loves.”
Source: https://www.christiantoday.com.au/news/tim-kellers-freedom-of-self-forgetfulness.html
Another perspective: Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko explains:
“It is a kind of self-forgetfulness where the ego, like a healthy body part, simply works without demanding attention. This is true freedom—the ability to live and love without being trapped in self-consciousness.”
Start Simple
“It’s never too late to change your life for the better. You don’t have to take huge steps to change your life. Making even the smallest changes to your daily routine can make a big difference to your life.”
Start and end each day with a time of quiet reflection. Replace pride with humility in seeking to be more like Christ and less like others. Meaning comes through authentic connection to God and other like minded followers!
Words of Grace & Hope 