While the word ego does not appear in the Bible, concepts and principles regarding the ego certainly do. The word ego refers to an exaggerated sense of self-importance, which usually results in an excessive preoccupation with “self.” But dying to self, the opposite of ego, is the biblical model for the disciples. The Bible is filled with admonitions against the self because of man’s inherent desire to be worshiped. In fact, all the various forms of modern idolatry have self at their very core. The dark forces of this age have convinced many that contentment is achieved only by satisfying the urges of the self. And we can trace this all the way back to the Garden of Eden where Eve became stirred by Satan’s lie that she could “be like God”

“In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

(Genesis 3:5)

The opposite of ego is humility, and both the Old and New Testaments are laden with references to living humbly. In the book of Micah we read, “What does the MASTER require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”

Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is Yahweh requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.

(Micah 6:8)

The “Jesus Way” goal for our faith at work:  Jesus calls on us to set our ego aside at work. Our focus is not about us and how we are seen. We must focus on love, meekness and serving others.

King Solomon declared the truth about our work. What brings wealth, honor and life?

“Humility and the fear of Yahweh bring wealth and honor and life”

(Proverbs 22:4)

One verse that epitomizes why we are to be humble is Peter’s exhortation in his first epistle: “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).

Indeed, Scripture makes it clear that God hates pride and arrogance

To fear Yahweh is to hate evil. I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.

(Proverbs 8:13)

In fact, it was pride that turned Lucifer into Satan.

Isaiah 14:13-14 describes Satan’s astounding focus on self:

I will ascend…I will raise…I will sit… I will ascend…I will make myself like the Most High.

This is a perfect example of pride going before destruction (Proverbs 16:18), for in the next verse in Isaiah we see where Satan’s pride got him: “But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit” (v.15). the Messiah reiterated the fate of the proud, warning that “whoever exalts himself will be humbled” (Matthew 23:12).

Clearly, an inflated ego at work and its focus on self are not in keeping with the disciples call for humility. Rather, it is the antithesis of what characterizes true the disciples—dependence on God and service to others.

A humble heart has no room for ego or pride or arrogance because it recognizes that all we have and all we are comes from God, as Paul reminded the Corinthians:

• “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?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).
• Every gift, every talent, every breath we take—all are from God, as is our most precious gift, salvation. “Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded…by the law of faith” (Romans 3:27).

Jesus the Messiah is the perfect example of humility. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). Indeed, Jesus did not come to earth to be served, but to serve, making “himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant” (Philippians 2:7). We see an expression of the Messiah’s selfless attitude in the Garden of Gethsemane when He said to His Father in heaven, “Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39), and then on the following day when He humbly endured the tortures of the cross so that we could be reconciled to our Father in heaven.

Paul is another beautiful example of humility in action. Next to Jesus, he was probably the most significant figure of the early Christian era. And even though he was perhaps the greatest advocate of the Messiah there ever was, he still considered himself as the “least of the apostles” and the “worst” of sinners. He always encouraged those who followed the Messiah to emulate His humility, encouraging them, and us, to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves,” adding that we should not simply look to our own interests, but also to the interests of others. That is the essence of humility and the opposite of ego.

Jesus taught us that the greatest commandments were to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbor as we love our self (Matthew 22:37, 39). When we strive to keep these commandments, we take the focus off ourselves and place it where it should be—on God and on helping others. As a disciple of Jesus, life is  devoid of ego, the “I will” becomes a “thy will.”

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