“you … will know beyond the shadow of a doubt … the reality and not the illusion”(1 John 5:13, MSG)
The root of pride can be traced through twelve specific fruits – we are currently discussing these fruits, and in the last couple of teachings we dealt with the first three fruits. The fourth fruit is megalomania.
The term megalomania actually derives from psychology, and is used in typifying an extreme psychopathological state of abnormal or ungrounded mental ability, especially with regards to an individual exaggerating the importance of the self. In Christians this does not necessarily need to imply a psychological state, but instead differing degrees of self-exultation and cherishing that is fastidiously practised. Megalomania is characterised by delusions of personal spiritual authority, exaggerated extraordinary abilities, wealth, intellect, knowledge, sexual prowess, etc. It also includes actions of grandiose proportions during which the person sees him or herself as untouchable and elevated above others.
At the basis of this condition is the root of pride, but it is the pride of delusion – the person is actually suffering from an absolute inferiority complex. These people feel unimportant, and that they don’t mean much. The depth of this powerlessness of the self is then directed by megalomania as a psychic defence mechanism. The megalomania then sublimates (or suppresses) the inferiority complex. In extreme cases this can even be indicative of more serious psychiatric disorders, or even schizophrenia. In certain cases the individual may take on the identity of an influential person in the world, or in history, for instance Napoleon or Jesus or Madonna.
Those who suffer from this condition often appear charming, and elicit admiration for a specific talent or ability, but are so obsessed with themselves that it later becomes an irritation for others.
(In previous teachings we’ve devoted quite a lot of time to the notion of a spiritual imaginary world in the lives of believers – please read the teachings of Day 32, 34-35, 490 and 496, as it offers an overview of the scope of this problem.)
The section in 1 John 2:16 is specifically concerned with this fruit: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” The fruit of megalomania is fundamentally a carnal issue, linked to carnal discontentment and lack, and then the imaginary world becomes manifested within yourself, and this leads to false presuppositions about your identity and your abilities.
- Selah: Is this fruit perhaps present within you?
- Read: 19-21; 1 John 2.
- Memorise: 1 John 2:18.
- For a more in-depth understanding: Read Andrew Murray’s Absolute Surrender.
