This C.S. Lewis Quote

Good morning…

We began our semester unpacking the deep meaning of this C.S. Lewis quote at the beginning of our book, Self to Lose, Self to Find; Using the Enneagram to Uncover Your True, God-Gifted Self by Marilyn Vancil.

“The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become – because He made us. He invented us. He invented all the different people you and I were intended to be… It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own.”

We loved the use of the word invented. We thought about God in this heavenly laboratory with lab coat and test tubes and bubbling beakers of potent ingredients. Forming each one-of-a-kind mixture, God invented us. God invented all the diverse people we were intended to be. Yet, to actually develop as we were invented and intended, we must let God, the Great Scientist, take us over. To become more truly, uniquely ourselves, we are designed to turn to the living Christ, giving ourselves up to His personality. Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection] (Hebrews 12:2a, AMPC).

As we die again and again to our own selfish impulses, we gradually loosen the grip of our false, guarded self. We compare less. We compete less. We control less. We complain less. We criticize ourselves, and others, less. As we slowly lose our false self, we begin to find our True Self, our True, God-invented Self. Taking on the multifaceted character of the living Christ, our real personalities blossom, more and more and more, just as God intended.

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20, NLT).

…Sue…