There I was still blaming myself and feeling guilty over things I should not have blamed myself for—my parent’s deaths, my husband leaving. I was in the typical codependent-need-to-take-on-more than I was responsible for even in my thinking. Today, I challenge you to think about being overly responsible and feeling too much guilt and blame as the trappings of the ego. It is so easy to recognize ego when it shows up in someone who is arrogant or self-centered “puffing” themselves up, it is much harder to see ego in someone who is selfless. But the denial of self, or the sacrificing of self is not a soulful position it is very egocentric. When we can take only our share of the blame, be responsible for only what is ours are we in a soulful place. When we own it and do something about it we are free of guilt. When we sit with too much of the blame and sit in guilt we are festering in our own ego. Anyone with traditional Christian values may see guilt as a normal part of the quest to be a better Christian, but being connect to our soul and creating distance from our egos is a much healthier spiritual place.
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