Read ACIM Chapter 4, Introduction (page 52)
How does Jesus define inspiration?
In the dictionary, inspiration is defined as "divine guidance or influence exerted upon the mind of man." The word inspire is defined as, "to breathe life into." Inspiration means to be in spirit. "To be egocentric is to be dis-spirited, but to be Self-centered in the right sense is to be inspired or in spirit." (1:7) Our true Self as God created It is Love and nothing else. Thus to be Self-centered is to be Love centered, extending only Love. This is being our our true spiritual nature.
How are we still crucifying ourselves?
Joining with the ego thought system of separation or individuality is the same as rejecting our true spiritual nature, or dispiriting ourselves. The crucifixion symbolizes this. It is like we are trying to kill ourselves, which is to lose our spirit or be dispirited. This is depressing and tiring. We do not need to repeat this journey of self-crucifixion. Through this Course, Jesus is preparing us to let go of "the old rugged cross" and take another journey of resurrection with him back to our true life in God. He tells us, "Until you do so your life is indeed wasted. It merely re-enacts the separation, the loss of power, the futile attempts of the ego at reparation, and finally the crucifixion of the body, or death. Such repetitions are endless until they are voluntarily given up." (3:4-6)
Because we have freedom of choice, we cannot be forced to give up our fixation on separation and death. We must give it up voluntarily or we will continue wasting our life with endless re-enactments of separation. The Course is here to teach us that despite its appealing glitz and glitter, separation does not offer anything we really want. As we recognize it has no value to us, we will easily and voluntarily let it go. Because we have invested so much of our belief in the thought system of separation, the undoing of this investment is gradual. Step-by-step, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, will help us recognize the valueless so we freely lay it down and open our minds to the infinite value of our inheritance from God.
How do we return to knowing our Self as the Spirit of Love?
As we realign ourselves with the spirit of Love, our true nature, we align ourselves with Light and our message is enlightened. To know our Self as the Spirit of Love, we must be still and know that our Self is one with God and shares all that He is. When we do this, we have chosen to "Be still and know that I am God."
If a brother is in the hell of pain, judgment and guilt, we cannot help him by joining him in that thought system. This would only reinforce the seeming reality of his situation and his beliefs. At the same time it would set us back by reinforcing these same beliefs in ourselves. If we are truly devoted to our brother, we will offer help to him when he asks for it, guiding him to see what is true and let go of mistaken ideas that bring him pain. He may not realize what he is asking for when he calls for help. But by offering him the truth, we are going "twice as far" as he has asked. By teaching from the truth in ourselves, we strengthen it in ourselves and mutual progress is made.