No Ego

“The Savior has no ego,” he told me. My first thought was how in the world could that be true? A man who has no ego. Can such a being actually exist?

I know we joke about the fragile male ego and declare how others have a huge ego. Some articles I’ve read declare it is healthy to have an ego, just not an overblown one. Yet, again, I was told He had no ego.

From Webster’s dictionary: Ego: a person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance. I did look for “ego” in Webster’s 1928 dictionary, but it was not there. I guess it hadn’t been “invented” yet. The word “ego” is Latin and literally means “I”. Some say ego keeps you out of touch with reality. Your ego is what prevents you from hearing critical but necessary feedback from others. Ego makes you estimate your own abilities and worth, and underestimate the effort and skill required to achieve your goals.

The bottom line to me is we have problems with ego because it becomes all about me. When a former United States president talked, people would count how many times he said “I.” That is ego. I believe ego will help you grind your superiority and greatness into the face of others.

We often joke that a particular person’s ego is so large he won’t be able to get into the room. Conceit, self-importance, believing you are never wrong and it’s always the other person’s fault are examples of a large ego. I know some of these are extreme. How about a good self-worth or self-image? Aren’t those important? We are told it is, aren’t we?

Since I was told that Jesus Christ has no ego I have contemplated this for many hours, days, months, and years. (I’ve felt driven to re-examine this topic with you readers here at least once a year: July 2, 2017, April 24, 2018, and December 5, 2019.)

How is this possible? As I told you before in the other posts, after being told this by a man who has been redeemed, I headed out to my car with my sighted friend. After getting in the car, I turned to her and asked if this was true, that Jesus Christ has no ego? “Yes, it’s true, He has no ego,” she responded.

Much later I was directed to a scripture where the Savior defines Himself in 3 Nephi 11:10-11:

“Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.” Here He declares who He is to the Nephites. But what does He think He is?

“And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.”

What is it about “will?” In other scriptures we find: “Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.” (Helaman 10:4) The Lord’s will is the same as the Father’s will.

“For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” (John 6:38)

“Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.” (Luke 22:42)

“And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.” (Mark 14:36)

Why didn’t the Lord Jesus Christ have any ego? My studies, research, and prayers led me to conclude:

He had no ego because He did the will of the Father in all things.

More from a close friend, “He saw the goodness and wisdom of the Heavenly Parents and fully accepted the path offered by Them. So in that sense His entire existence has been to honor Them and to further the plan and benefit others.”

Wow, do you get that! It was never about Him, ever. He always conceded to our Parents, even in the most difficult of circumstances throughout His entire life, not just in Gethsemane and on Calvary. He practiced and became unconsciously competent in having all of His thoughts, emotions and actions always aligned to our Parent’s will, not His.

Because of this, it was never about Him. He humbly submitted to the Father in all things. Ego then is not necessary. He was so connected to our Parents that they were one.

A friend of mine shared how she was perplexed about the Savior’s motivation. She said that when she prayed and asked how He could do what He did, the words she received back were, “It pleases me to please Him.”

Another good friend shared with me what she feels it means to have no ego:

“You don’t strive to be better than everyone else. Your motivation for doing your best is to please the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“You appreciate everything you are given by the Lord and don’t beat yourself up or whine because He has seen fit to withhold things from you for a time.”

“You are not more favored or special than anyone else. Everyone here has a role and purpose and you are to fulfill your role and do what the Savior tells you to do to help others fulfill theirs.”

You don’t seek approval from others, whether for recognition, support, a little pity, or to boost your confidence. You look to the Savior for that.”

You don’t compare yourself to others. You look to the Savior and Him alone to know how you’re doing and give gratitude for where you are.”

Great thoughts my friends, thank you.

Can we connect to the Lord Jesus Christ so we become one with Him as He is to the Father? If we do so, will our ego also disappear? Why would we then have one or need one? It isn’t about us then, is it? It’s about Him, and His will. It’s about doing His work for which we can never take credit. Christ drunk out of the Father’s cup, thereby doing the Father’s will. He took upon Himself the sins of the world, thereby glorifying the Father. Once again, doing a huge thing and taking no credit, giving all to the Father. And finally suffering the will of the Father in all things from the beginning. This wasn’t just in this life, He became the Son of God, the Firstborn, by doing the Father’s will in all things from the very beginning. (When I say Father, I do mean both our Parents, our Mother included.)

If we are to become like Him, then we must surrender our egos. It isn’t about us. We are not here to gather “spiritual selfies” to prove how great we are. We are not great. Only He was great and He deferred to the Father in all things, suffering Father’s will.

We become without ego by deferring to the Lord Jesus Christ and doing His will in all things, just as He does to the Father.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ truly didn’t have any ego, he is the prototypical man or the true prototype of the saved human mortal being. (Lectures on Faith, number 7)

It has finally distilled into my mind and makes sense to me how He was and is able to have no ego. My desire is to be like Him, to do His will in all things and therefore become like Him. May we all strive to get rid of the “I” in all of us, then we can become like Him by doing His will in all things.

God bless.