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Wednesday September 2, 2015

 

The Greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.

– Leonardo da Vinci

 

Yesterday, I addressed in my blog the topic of selfishness; that although we find it difficult to admit we are all selfish. We can clearly see selfishness, which is in essence a character flaw, in others but we often miss it in our own lives.

I would posit that one of the reasons why we fail to recognize selfishness in our own lives is because although our actions are selfish they are not necessarily conscious acts of selfishness. Think of it as this: it’s like driving slowly in the fast lane causing those behind you to slow down, or standing in the way of someone impeding their passage without realizing it, these are unconscious acts. However, even in cases where our actions are deliberate, we rationalize that we deserve or have earned what our selfish actions seek to achieve. In essence, we are deceived into thinking that what we are doing is warranted. Whether conscious or unconsciously, selfish acts always lead to self-deceit and this is a big problem.

Self-deceit

 It is incredible the amount of lies we will tell ourselves just to get what we want when we believe we are owed something, have earned something, or when we want something badly enough. If we want out of a relationship, although it may not be the right decision, we will rationalize our decision until we can justify the lie that leads us to leaving. The same goes for relationships that we should not be in; eventually we will deceive ourselves into believing that we should stay. When we engage in self-deceit, it is powerful enough to cause us to justify the unjustifiable. The greater problem with self-deceit is that not only will it adversely impact the area in our life in which we have deceived ourselves, the lies we tell ourselves will eventually impact all areas of our lives, the people we relate to, and even our relationship with God.

Romans 11:34-36 NIV

“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?”

Who knows the mind of the Lord?

 Easy enough to answer, no one knows the mind of God. Yet, when we engage in self-deceit, the answers start to change and begin to sound more like this: God understands why I did what I did. I believe I know God’s mind and He obviously agrees with me.

Who has been His counselor?

 That is also easy to answer, nobody counsels God. However, when we are deceiving ourselves we become Gods’ counselor and we even dare to tell Him what He should and should not do.

Who has ever given to God that God should repay them?

 These questions are way too easy; God does not owe anybody anything. Oh! When we deceive ourselves, we believe that God indeed owes us something. We start to think; I behaved well this week so now you (God) owe me. On the other hand, we might say, I put money in the offering basket so you owe me. But for the fact that God has given us so much, we would have nothing to offer to Him. So, tell me, how is it that God owes us?

Acknowledge

 The answer to the problem of self-deceit is to ACKNOWLEDGE. We need to ask ourselves hard questions. We need to ask ourselves in which areas of our lives are we deceiving ourselves. Then, we need to accept the truth of God in our lives and give Him all the glory.

Romans 11:36 NIV

For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.

Heavenly Father grant me the courage to acknowledge the areas in my life where I’ve deceived my self,  give me the wisdom to recognize the truth and place in my heart a burning desire to give you all the glory.