- Exploring the Gentle Idolatry of the self and the Path to True Devotion
By Olusola Adeyegbe
There is a quiet idolatry that thrives without temples, incense, or hymns. It requires no public declaration, but it demands daily devotion. It is the worship of self. We kneel before it in our thoughts, defend it in our conversations, and protect it fiercely whenever it feels threatened. As a new year begins, the most important question may not be what we plan to achieve, but what we are finally willing to dethrone.
Self-worship rarely announces itself as arrogance alone. Sometimes it wears the mask of confidence, sometimes the armor of defensiveness. It shows up when correction feels like an attack, when feedback is dismissed as ignorance, when every failure must be explained away and every success loudly claimed. It is present whenever we refuse to accept that we might be wrong, and deeper still, whenever we refuse to acknowledge anything greater than our own understanding.
Our culture often confuses self-admiration with self-care, but the two are not the same. Self-admiration is a fixation on our image, our righteousness, and our narrative. It is the impulse to cast ourselves as the hero in every story, to edit our memories so that blame always rests elsewhere. Over time, this quiet devotion exacts a heavy cost. Learning becomes impossible because learning begins with admitting that we do not yet know. Relationships grow thin because intimacy requires vulnerability, not performance. Leadership deteriorates because service is replaced by vanity. The ego builds a hall of mirrors, and while we admire our reflection, the world outside grows distant and dim.
The danger of a bloated ego is that it rarely feels dangerous to the one who carries it. It feels like knowing one’s worth, standing one’s ground, or refusing to be diminished. Yet slowly and quietly, it suffocates the soul. Curiosity is replaced with certainty. Empathy gives way to evaluation. People become either supporters or critics in our personal mythology, not fellow human beings with their own complexity and dignity. Eventually, teachability disappears, and when teachability dies, growth soon follows.
To quit worshipping oneself is not to descend into self-hatred. That is merely another form of self-obsession turned inward and made cruel. True growth rests on humility, not contempt. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. It is the strength to say “I was wrong” without your identity collapsing, the grace to listen without rehearsing a rebuttal, the openness to be shaped by truth wherever it appears. Where ego builds fortresses, humility builds bridges. It creates space for learning, for correction, and for transformation.
The most enduring liberation from self-worship comes from a reordering of devotion. When the self sits on the throne, everything else becomes distorted. Love turns possessive. Success becomes corrosive. Legacy becomes an obsession. But when the Almighty is placed at the center, life regains its proper proportions. Career, family, achievement, and ambition are not despised, but neither are they enthroned. Reverence reorders the soul.
To think of the Almighty always is to be freed from the cramped prison of self-preoccupation. We are too small to be endlessly occupied with our grievances, our insecurities, and our selfish desires. The soul was made for something larger. In loving the Almighty, we learn what love truly is, patient, kind, and not self-seeking. In seeking His Will, our purpose expands beyond the narrow boundaries of ego. In worshipping Him, and He alone, we are finally free to be fully and humbly human.
The true purpose of life is the ascent of the spirit, a miraculous journey away from the noisy altar of self toward the Eternal Gardens of Paradise. It is not a single choice but a daily surrender to the Will of the Creator. So this year, ask yourself: will you continue to worship yourself, or will you step down from a throne you were never meant to occupy? Think upon God and His Will at all times, and let that reflection guide every step of your journey.
