Recovering From Spiritual Narcissism – Part 3
The narcissist seeks to find validation in whatever will justify his lifestyle. He already has his mind made up as to how he is going to proceed through life, and he is going to proceed his way, the way that he thinks is the right way, and no one else is going to tell him what to do. However, when he tries to do things his way, he finds himself running into obstacles, problems, and resistance. A lot of this comes from other people and their narcissistic behavior. A lot of this comes from the fact that the narcissist thinks he knows how the world works when he really doesn’t. This resistance creates tension between his ego, other people, and the world around him, and he inwardly doubts himself. He thinks it is a strange thing to doubt himself at all since he is so right about everything. Nevertheless, to assuage his ego, he must find external validation that his way of doing things is right. He is not looking for correction. That would be to admit that his project is fundamentally flawed, which he doesn’t believe. Instead, he looks for systems, beliefs, people, and practices that will support his chosen behavior. When he finds these things, he feels validated, and can assure himself that his way of doing things is indeed correct. He knows this because the things he chose validates him! He never stops to think that self is the problem to begin with, and that his ego really can’t be trusted to get the right answers, but with his validation, he can continue to pursue his own desires awash with the approbation of the systems, beliefs, people, and practices that he deliberately chooses to prop up his ambitions. Proverbs 14:12 states, “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”