“the more we let Christ take us over, the more ourselves we become”

In Mere Christianity, CS Lewis helps us understand how Christ operates within us in a simple analogy (which has all of the limitations of any analogy). In his chapter “The New Men,” he explains that salt has a very distinct character, one which people might assume would overpower anything it blends with. But that is not the case. Salt, when properly used, enhances all of the flavors in soup, for example, and makes them better than they would be alone. The same is true with Christ. Lewis continues his explanation this way: “The more we get what we now call ‘ourselves’ out of the way and let Him take us over, the more truly ourselves we become. …In that sense our real selves are all waiting for us in Him. It is no good trying to ‘be myself’ without Him. The more I resist Him and try to live on my own, the more I become dominated by my own heredity and upbringing and surroundings and natural desires. …It is when I turn to Christ, when I give myself up to His Personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own.”