The Ego And The Soul.

In many ways, the acceptance of any evidence of God involves a battle between the ego and the soul.

The soul is generally defined as "a God-created, God-nurtured, unique, developable, immortal human spirit."



Each of these modifiers is crucial. Of particular importance is that the soul is "God-nurtured," by which generally the spiritually enlightened believe that not only did God create us at the moment of conception but that God, through grace, continues to nurture us throughout our lives. It is additionally believed that there would be no purpose in her doing so unless she wanted something from us: the development of our souls.

But how are souls different than ego's?

The ego generally is the governing part of our personality.
Ego development-the maturation of this governor-is very much related to the development of our consciousness.

When people speak of someones "ego," what is usually referred to is someone's self-image, self-perception, and will.
This encompass not only some personality characteristics (often our more negative and defensive ones) but also what we think about and value in life.

Like the soul our ego can grow, change, and develop, but that doesn't mean it will.

One of the biggest differences between the soul and the ego is that the ego is closer to the surface of who we are or believe ourselves to be, whereas the soul goes deeper, to the core of our being-so deep that we may not be aware of it.

Everyone has a sense of their own "I," a sense of I-dentity.
This "I" is sometimes referred to as the ego, sometimes the self.

An "I" Example: My ego wanted to please my parent, to tough it out and follow in fathers footsteps graduating college. I'm wanted to succeed there.
But, gradually I found myself not only unable to be a quieter but additionally unable or unwilling to do what I thought I wanted to be even though it wasn't clear at the time yet what was clear inside "I" was no different from what my WASP upbringing had trained me to want.

Secular psychiatrists would say the true self-the whole self-is a conglomerate of psychic components: the id, ego, and superego; the conscious and the unconscious; the genetically determined temperament and our accumulated experiential learning.

No wonder some "I's" remain in conflict having so many different parts!

These parts are real, and are indeed in conflict.
Moreover, effective psychotherapy can be accomplished using this "conglomerate" model.

America's problem: the "I" voters sloth, to lazy to know how to feel like the walking conglomerate at Wharton.

And even stranger, the older these "I's" grew and the more "I's" recognized the realities of these different parts of them, the less they feel like a conglomerate.

America's additional problem: the "I's " who are still capable of feeling something deeper yet was going on, something very important that somehow could make me larger than myself.

America's solution: More "I's" had come to recognize that "I" had a soul.

It's important to bear in mind that souls and egos, being different, naturally operate on different levels. Americas patriotic "I" voters believe the distinction between the soul and the ego is both valid, important, and does not mean their is no interaction between the two.

Smart selfishness's "I" strongly believes that a conversion-change and growth-in the soul will dramatically change certain ways in which the ego functions, and will do so for the better.

Smart selfishness's "I"  additionally recognizes how and why ego learning can and will encourage Soul developments. And as far as exactly how the soul and ego interact in which remains mysterious within "I's" stupid selfishness's world. The spiritually mature "I" practicing foresight always knows where to look in the Bible first (as owners manual) that will matter today and can ensure future tomorrows.

Educational book share: The Road Less Traveled and Beyond - Spiritual Growth in an age of Anxiety