The ego is the devil

 Welcome to Daily Miracles, a running commentary on the 365 lessons of A Course in Miracles, an influential spiritual text from the 1970s. I am James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as I go through this material for the first time. 

Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation. (ACIM, W-72)

I was raised in a Christian environment in which the Bible was treated as the source of all doctrine. The concept of "ego" doesn't appear in it. "Pride" appears, and "the flesh" appears. But the culture surrounding it seemed focused on the body: the doctrine supposedly frees us from sin, but actually enslaves us to sin because it causes us to think about sin all the time. At least that's what happened to me. Perhaps that's not what my Christian teachers intended, but the result for me was to make the "flesh" a prison.

I've subsequently come to think of the ego as "the devil" so as to think "ego" whenever "the devil" is mentioned. The Bible makes more sense to me then. And the "ego" is how I judge myself and others by worldly standards. In those judgments are my grievances.

James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!

(Photo credit: Ivoronwik)