There is very famous martial arts actor who made some very popular and successful films. In addition to his fame, he has earned an infamous reputation as an egotistical bully who is difficult, if not impossible, to work with. He apparently has gained a long list of fellow successful actors who will not work with him or speak any kind words about him. They tell that this actor demands that all others on the set bow and give place to his egotistical demands. Failure to meet the egotistical demands are met with a variety of responses from physical to emotional, and all vicious. 

I began to realize that this professional warrior, a highly trained and skilled martial artist, has failed in his first true war. His first true war was with himself. He was conquered and made a slave to his own ego through his humanity and the enemy of humanity. The ego not only rules over him, his relationships, his career, but it also tries to force others to obey it. The ego had become a power in his life almost like a character in his movies. It had become so powerful that it (if it could be treated like a personality) moved to rule, not only him, but the people around him. 

Failure to conquer his own spirit has been having a horrendous effect. His movies have dropped out of the mainstream. The people willing to work with him have become far less. His career has entered a slide and appears to be continuing. His reputation, covered by his early successes, is now fully exposed as to its true quality. The destruction has arrived. The call to repentance could not be more clear. The most frightening part of this story – from the perspective of those of us who examine the health of our own souls – is that every one can see the condition of his life more easily than he can himself, even if the clues seem overwhelming.

Salvation is an individual experience. It only becomes an influence to others after it has taken effect inside the individual. The first territory salvation conquers is the self, and that conquering is to free us from the very kinds of destruction this actor is facing – pride. It is one thing to be enslaved by the failings of others, but I think it far worse to be enslaved by your own. Who can you blame? Where can you hide? Where can you go? How can you have an objective view of your condition when your perspective is corrupted within you? There is only one true source of rescue – Jesus.

Jesus sees the truth, reveals the truth, but with the compassion it takes to get us from brokenness to health. His goodness and love bring us to repentance, the kind of love that takes us from bondage to freedom. 

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” Proverbs 16:18, 25, 32 ESV https://bible.com/bible/59/pro.16.18-32.ESV