Christ lives in me

Galatians 2:20

“I live no longer, not I, but Christ lives in me.”

In this brief sentence, St Paul sums up the purpose of our lives as Christian brothers and sisters. Here we see that the ego, the “I” in Paul’s words, is the part of us that separates us from Christ and which squeezes Christ out of our consciousness. The personal I is important to get us through our daily activities in a purely functional way, it is the part of us that interacts in the world of people and things, but it is not what guides us and it is surely not the be all and end all of our existence. The ego should not dictate our path or our decisions, especially with respect to those around us. When we put the I, or the ego, ahead of everything else, we are not living the Christian life; Christ is simply not in us.

Our desires, our wants, our grievances, our own personal gratifications are not to displace our desire to do God’s will, and to embrace Christ as our Saviour. When our ego tells us to love our car or our house or money, or whatever gives us personal satisfaction above our love for our brothers and sisters, this means that Christ is not living in us. But when we cease to let the I dominate our minds and hearts, what happens is that a holy space deep inside us is created that allows Jesus to make a home within. He lives in us and we act as Christ would act in the world, and so we become more Christlike, more like the One we follow all the days of our lives.

We can be blessed dwellings when we allow Jesus to move in.