Let us be frank enough to accept the unpleasant truth that much of the strain of our lives can be traced to the assertion of the unsubdued self. Self-centeredness makes of life a field of tensions. We are so constituted that self-seeking inevitably brings inner disharmony. It is significant that the word “idiot” is derived from the Greek idios, which means “oneself”.

The soul that desires serenity must take strong action. It must ruthlessly expose every apparent trace of the self-life and not let it masquerade under dignified disguises. It will examine its holiness for that “weasel-like thing, pride”; and its attachment to self-display and its maneuvering for self-advantage. It will than bravely, decisively abandoned self, and every manifestation of it, to Christ, to be carried to His Cross for crucifixion. The surrender of self is a very careful, detailed, costly action, but nothing less will suffice. It will, moreover, bring the happy result of “a heart at leisure from itself”, with new possibilities of joyous living. –“The Quest For Serenity” G.H. Morling, an Australian Baptist minister.