07/19/2026 – “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139: 23,24
An excerpt from the back cover of this excellent little piece, only 44 pages in length:: “… A truly gospel-humble person, is not a self-hating person, or a self-loving person, but a self-forgetful person.” This freedom can be yours …“
Chapter 1: The Natural Condition of the Human Ego
Re; 1 Corinthians 4:6: “the word Paul uses here for pride, is not the normal hubris word for pride, but “physioo”… By using this particular word, Paul is trying to teach these Corinthians something about the human ego. This word used here for pride literally means to be overinflated, swollen, distended beyond its proper size… I think the image suggests four things about the natural condition of the human ego: that it is empty, painful, busy and fragile.
Firstly, empty... The ego that is puffed up and over-inflated has nothing at its centre. It is empty… And of course, as we are often reminded, if you try to put anything in the middle of the place that was originally made for God, it is going to be too small…”
And, secondly, it is also painful… 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…
And, thirdly, the ego is incredibly busy – in other words, it is always drawing attention to itself. It is incredibly busy trying to fill the emptiness. And it is incredibly busy doing two things in particular – comparing and boasting…
And last, 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…”
Chapter Two: The Transformed View of Self
“A truly gospel-humble is not a self-hating person or a self-loving person but a gospel-humble person. The truly gospel-humble person is a self forgetful person whose ego is just like his or her toes. It just works. it does not draw attention to itself…”
“… This is gospel-humility, blessed self-forgetfulness. Not thinking more of myself as in modern cultures, or less of myself as in traditional cultures. Simply thinking of myself less.”
Chapter Three: How to Get That Transformed View of Self
“… When he says (Paul) that he does not let the Corinthians judge him nor will he judge himself, he is saying that he knows about his sins but he does not connect them to himself and his identity. His sins and his identity are not connected. He refuses to play that game…”
“…He (Paul) says that it is the Lord who judges him. It is only His opinion that counts… But Paul is saying that in Christianity, the verdict leads to performance. It is not the performance that leads to the verdict… In Christianity, the moment we believe, God imputes Christ’s perfect performance to us as if it were our own, and adopts us into His family… “
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SolI Deo Gloria!