Narcissism
It seems clear, at least to me, that narcissism is on the rise. Narcissism is ego out of control, narcissistic people will say, “it’s all about me.” All of humanity, it seems, wants to be first, wants to be considered best. Some of those who aren’t the best spend a great deal of time telling us they are the best. If they can convince us, then they can convince themselves. People who do that are searching for confidence and independence which even they know they don’t have. If they did they wouldn’t try to convince us they were the first or best. They want recognition of their self-importance.
Self-promotion can be a good thing when searching for a job but it can be a real problem in developing a close relationship with God or others. Narcissists exist in our family, our neighborhood, our work or school, the church, in fact, everywhere people congregate.
What can we do to bring about a change in narcissism, in ourselves and in others? Let’s look at how Jesus did it with the Apostles.

They were average people argumentative, controlling, distrusting, self-promoting. “Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest” (Luke 9:46-48). But, they were changed into humble men who were totally self-giving and teachers of others who would follow in their footsteps. “So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:41-42).
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What changed them? Jesus did! The more time they spent with Him the more they internalized the lessons learned and practiced them in their daily lives.

When we attend worship service are we thinking about the awesome power of our Lord in our lives or grocery shopping on the way home? Are we considering the fact that we would not exist without God’s desire to have us exist? Remember Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” We didn’t create ourselves, our biological parents didn’t create us, God did! True worship is when the created and the Creator come together. God is the only God and we are not god!

The key that unlocks narcissism is humility. A humble child has less conflict with his parents and we are all children of God. What quality do we like most in grandma or mom? Isn’t it total self-giving, unconditional love, a desire to see our best qualities and overlook our areas of need? They are humble people seeking to give all they have that we may be happy.
Jesus did that on the cross. We will most likely never be called to do the same, but we can recognize that humility in our lives will transform ourselves and others.
The next time someone tries to pull into our lane, we need to be less narcissistic and more humble and let off on the gas. We have the power to control the gas pedal. When someone rushes to get in front of us in a line, allow it without bad feelings just as Mom allowed us to fill our dinner dish before she filled hers.
When we spend time praying and take this lesson to all segments of our lives we will leave behind narcissism and replace it with the cloak of humility.
When we spend time with Jesus praying for others who demonstrate narcissistic traits we will develop a sense of empathy for them because we will understand them even though we may not sympathize with their words and actions.
Leaving narcissism behind and putting on a cloak of humility, we won’t find the need to impress others, our love will become unconditional, we will learn to trust others, we won’t need to put others down to raise our own self-esteem, we will learn to understand, our relationships will be stronger and long lived, our possessions will be used to bring joy to others, and we will truly be a child of, and living in harmony with the God who created us and our fellow man.
An unhealthy degree of Self- importance holds within it the seeds of our mental and physical destruction. “For I say, … to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith” (Romans 12:3).
Humility holds with in it the sign that God is alive and dwells in our daily lives. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up” (James 4:10).
” Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-11).