When Ego Becomes an Idol
This has been one of my favorite prayers. The Litany of Humility. I’m breaking down what it means to me, especially when my ego needs a reality check.
The purpose of this prayer is to help detach us from approval & ego:
wanting to be liked
wanting to be chosen
By praying this prayer, we’re asking God to loosen our grip on validation, especially validation that comes from people, social media, comparison, or relationships.
It totally ties into the 1st Commandment:
“You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Approval, admiration, and even being “seen” can subtly become idols. This prayer gently pulls them off the throne.
It re-orders love (God first, not the self)
Humility in the Catholic sense doesn’t mean thinking less of yourself, it means thinking of yourself less often.
How am I being perceived?
To ↓
How can I love rightly?
It heals comparison & competition
The most challenging line:
“That others may be loved more than I.”
It’s not asking you to accept abuse or invisibility. It’s asking God to heal the envy and comparison that steals peace—especially in friendships, relationships, and online spaces.
When you no longer need to be “first,” you become free to be fully yourself.
It prepares the soul for real love
Real love requires humility:
staying when ego wants to flee
serving when recognition doesn’t come
loving without keeping score
Saints prayed this because it stripped away the false self and made room for true charity.
Why many people pray it during discernment or suffering
during seasons of confusion
when ego feels wounded
when relationships feel unbalanced
when God is calling someone deeper
Because it aligns the heart with Christ, who was secure enough to be hidden, rejected, and misunderstood without losing His identity.
This prayer isn’t asking me to disappear.
It’s inviting me to let God be the source of my worth so nothing else has power over me.
That’s not weakness.
That’s strength rooted in God.