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| |  | Michael Fox CPCC,
founder of m·agine!,
is a professional
coach and trainer,
author and creative artist, whose work has been featured throughout
the world.
Michael is a
Certified Practitioner
of the
Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator.®
Do you know someone
who might benefit
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On daily dying and living,
losing and embracing... |
Jesus assured his apprentices, "He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 10:39). It's apparent that Jesus speaks of two different aspects of "life"--or "self." But are we clear as to what the two different "selves" might be?
What would it look like to perceive the two selves--in psychological terms--as the "false self" and the "true self"?
Your false self is a mask, an external self, your self-image, your "ego," your expectations, your adaptive self. Your false self finds value in such dubious measures as pleasure, praise, power, prestige, position, popularity, productivity, possessions, perfection. Your false self loves to read "People" magazine. If you've ever felt offense, resisted responsibility, suffered humiliation, denied pain and loss, you've engaged your false self.
When you were young, it's quite possible that your false self may have served a role in your physical and emotional survival. As an adult, however, your false self has likely outlived its purpose. Wisdom encourages you to thank your false self for its years of fidelity and kindly invite it to step aside.
Reframing Jesus words, then, "He who has found worth in his false self will lose it, but he who has lost his false self for My sake will find his true self."
As apprentices of Jesus we are called to lose our "false self" to find our "true self." But, short of losing our false self, we try instead to repair it or to anesthetize it. Our false self thus becomes the seat of our attachments, our addictions, or--as one celebrated recovery program describes them--our hurts, habits, and hang-ups.
The lie is that our false self dies a grand fiery death and that the true self then rises from the ashes in a single brilliant transformative moment. Daily failures then feel like complete failures and with them, hope is abandoned. In reality, however, Jesus' apprentices daily "take up their cross"--daily dying and rising, dying and rising, dying and rising--as they loosen the grip on their false self and embrace their true self. Life and life abundant.
Trust the process.
Further, we might frame the contrast between false self and true self as flesh and spirit. To live from the place of the true self, or the spirit, is to be--as Jesus described--"pure in heart," or, "of one mind." As Paul admonished the Romans:
For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:6).
To the Galatians, Paul described what the true self--the mind set on the Spirit--looks like:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another (Galatians 5:22-26).
"He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it." And how.
How does this learning inform your past and present experience around spiritual transformation?
The great struggle of spiritual transformation is to get the "ego," the "I," out of God's way. What's the "one thing" that's stopping you?
What's the relevance of Galatians 5:26 to verses 22-25, quoted above? Mightn't be possible that boasting, challenging, envying, are manifestations of the false self?
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Michael Fox
m·agine!
530/613.2774
407 Myrtle Drive
Farmerville, LA, USA 71241 |
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In addition to personal and professional coaching,
m·agine! specializes in spiritual transformation coaching,
employing its proprietary models
--Values, Vision, Voice and Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength--
as well as
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® curriculum
published by CPP, the People Development People.
Michael's books include
Complete in Christ,
Complete in Christ Spiritual Transformation Workbook,
and Biblio·files.
Coaching fees are based upon a sliding scale. Contact us for details.
For additional information, visit our website at maginethepossibilities.net.
Limited scholarships are available for spiritual transformation coaching.
On the flip side, if you are able, please inquire about opportunities
to fund scholarships for those who cannot afford coaching fees.
View our archives!
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