Daily Word

Self-realization is rooted in self-centeredness and is expressed in self-absorption, self-satisfaction, self-defence, self-assertion, self-complacency, self-pity, self-rejection, self-contempt, etc. – all expressions of the root sin of independence: “my right to my own life.”

It was this prison that Jesus broke on the cross through his self-sacrificing love in complete obedience to his Father. In doing so, he “redeemed” us from the curse-yoke of the law: the compulsion to realize ourselves.

Since man at the Fall said: “I want to fix my own life!”, God said through the law: “Okay, go ahead, here are the conditions: if you are to succeed, you must make yourself perfect in every aspect.”

When man then truly “wants” to become a man of God – one who loves God above all else and his neighbour as himself – he notices that it is impossible, because in all situations he ultimately puts himself first: the “desire” to defend, assert, satisfy, i.e. to realize himself is stronger than everything else.

He discovers to his despair, like Paul, that he is imprisoned in a prison from which he cannot possibly escape, because he himself has created and constitutes this prison: the “sin that dwells in him”, in the depths of his being. It is his innermost disposition, and manifests itself in all his uncontrolled reactions.

No matter how much his conscious (“awakened”) “I” “wants,” he “cannot” do what is good.

It was this disposition (this spirit-law) – “sin” – that received its death sentence on the cross.

And when we have come to the edge of despair, we are finally prepared to consent to the judgment of all that we are in ourselves (our self-realization) and sign our own death certificate.

Only then will we be free from the curse of self-realization!