By Lois Hewitt

Where did my youthful arrogance come from?  I have had times in my life where I felt as if I was drowning and I was desperate for a life preserver.  Sometimes my sin was a cry for the pain to go away.  It was still a sin, but I understand the intent.

What I cannot understand when the times my cup overflowed with arrogance and bravado.  I mean my life was a mess but there were times I thought myself perfectly right and bulletproof on top of it.

I regret those days the most. I walked around like I had been somewhere and knew something. Reality was neither of those things applied.

The human ego is a crazy thing.  When it’s in power, it will run the whole show.  Ego will feed you delicious lies and you will take them and ask for more. 

Oh youth, ego loves the play-do like mind.  For me, the day I told ego to take a long hike, came way after youthfulness had left the building. 

As I have grown older, I see the folly that is ego.  Today my driving force, my faith dictates how I act. Humility is a beautiful thing.

How I wish I had known humility in my younger days. I could have been closer to the person I wanted to be. But humility has a soft voice where ego walks around with a bullhorn.  Ego makes sure no other voice can be heard.

Until that is, you move into a place that no longer allows ego to rant and rave. A place of peace and joy, ego is not welcome there.

I fell at the feet of Jesus and I had to let go of the selfish, damaging, entitled ego that was driving my life.  What a wonderful day that was.

No longer did I have to get constant accolades or non-stop reassurance.  I finally learned who I was…a child of God. That’s all I needed then and forevermore.