A Course in Miracles Text Made Simple

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Chapter 4: The Illusions of the Ego

Section VI: The Rewards of God

Read ACIM Chapter 4, Section VI (pages 67-69)

What gives the ego power?

It’s important for us to realize that we are not the ego. It has no power of its own. Only our allegiance to it seems to give it power. It is not an outside force to be battled with. It is simply a belief to let go of. Our choice to believe in it makes it seem very real to us. One of the key points the Course is teaching us is to recognize the power of our belief and that we are free to change our belief in every moment.

This section emphasizes that identifying with the ego as what we are only brings us pain. We are learning the ego is just a device that we use in order to make separation appear to be real. When we use a device, such as a telephone, we don’t make the mistake of thinking we are the device. We are asked to lay down this ego device, not out of sacrifice, but only because we recognize the pain it brings us. Placing our trust in the ego has only brought us illusions of separation, which leads ultimately to the illusion of death.

What happens as we learn to turn to Jesus for guidance?

Instead, we are asked to put our trust in our elder brother, Jesus. He tells us, “You have very little trust in me as yet, but it will increase as you turn more and more often to me instead of your ego for guidance.” (3:1) He promises us that as we become willing to choose with Him, our peace and joy will increase. We will be happy. These are the rewards of God. The more we choose the rewards of God, the more we will recognize that we are not the ego.

What does Jesus teach us?

The ego has just brought us sickness and pain. Through our belief in it, we have lost awareness of our true Identity as Love. We have lost touch with true happiness. Jesus tells us, “I am teaching you to associate misery with the ego and joy with the spirit. You have taught yourself the opposite. You are still free to choose, but can you really want the rewards of the ego in the presence of the rewards of God?” (5:6-8) Jesus trusts in us and asks us to place our trust in him. He knows what will make us truly happy. He knows what will heal our conflicted mind and bring us peace, comfort and contentment. He promises that he will lend us his strength while we are still wavering.

He is there to help us see our brother differently. As long as we see ourselves as separate from our brother, we cannot know our completion and wholeness. We cannot go Home alone because it is the idea of being alone that has cost us our awareness of Heaven. That is why we are indebted to our brother. He is our completion. It is through our recognition that we are one with our brother that we join together and return to the unity of Love, our Home.

What happens when we are grateful for our brother?

We welcome whatever we are grateful for. When we are grateful for our brother, we welcome him and accept him as our own. Since we share the same Father and the same Self, when we welcome our brother, we are accepting our Self and our Father. Jesus is asking us to be grateful for our brother because he knows that this is the way for us to accept and join with the Self that we share with all our brothers. This is the way we return Home.

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