EXAMINE YOURSELF.

People react in different ways when flaws in their character are pointed out to them. How they react is also dependent on who is doing the pointing out. That means, words that would make you sober when spoken by one person can deeply offend when spoken by another.

The truth remains that there are large portions of our nature and character that are not visible to our personal observation and so we need the help of others. For instance, we all have eyes on our faces yet we can never see our own face except with the help of another person or a mirror. We can’t see our backs either no matter how hard we try.

This is why we need the word of God as our daily mirror and also sincere relationships.

To a large extent I still remain a stranger to myself. Don’t get me wrong, I know me to a large extent too. I know the things I don’t like and the things I like. I know I love the Lord; I know the things that make me sad. But that level of ‘knowing’   is never enough. Why? because sometimes things just don’t work the way we think they’ll work, life is not that simple and one-dimensional.  I recognise that there is a huge part of my character that I have not been able to explore because life has not yet set up a scenario that will be the catalyst for its emergence. Simply put, I have not been tested in that area and until that happens I can’t claim to have the degree. I just haven’t been able to put together and scrutinize painstakingly every single facet of my personality as the great philosophers suggest we do.

We all think the world of ourselves but the bible recommends we exercise modesty in our self-assessment. Jesus refers to it as being poor in spirit.  It’s quit irritating to hear someone speak highly of themselves, actually its very irritating. I’ve found myself often guilty of this. Some people are not vocal about it, but it shows up in how they treat others and the level of forgiveness they are willing to extend to those who are weak.  Every move they make says it all, ‘I believe I’m the coolest, smartest, most spiritual, most holy kid on the block’.

At a recent paper presentation at school, we were asked to state our observations and ask questions on a work by one of our colleagues. A classmate of mine started by commending the work as excellent and the lecturer hushed her immediately,
‘I didn’t ask you to score the work, it’s not in your place to do that. I only asked for your comment’ he said scathingly. Imagine if any of us had concluded our presentation by saying how excellent and well written we thought our own paper was. That would probably earn some deductions in the overall score. It is not in our place.

God doesn’t want us scoring ourselves. He doesn’t want you or anyone scoring the ‘paper’ that is your life because He’s not even done taking you through your lessons. We are only allowed to tell ourselves the truth in love for the sole purpose of helping one another grow up into Christ and not for condemnation. By this I also mean I have no right to condemn myself even where I have failed.

Here’s what He wants us to do. He wants us to examine ourselves daily because sin is constantly at our door and sometimes we unwittingly create gaps and cracks through which it slips in and hides under the furniture in our hearts, waiting for the right time to strike.

God cautioned Cain when He found him upset and grumbling at what seemed like God’s preference for his brother’s sacrifice,
‘Why are you angry? And why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at your door, and its desire is to have you, but you must rule over it’.
In just a few verses after, Inspite of this warning and with no human or historical point of reference for the act he was about to commit, Cain murdered his own brother in cold blood.

I’ve often shocked myself by my actions or reaction to certain circumstances and I believe many of us have too in one way or the other. But I’ve discovered that one way to return from the guilt trip after we’ve disappointed badly and keep going in the race is to remove our focus from ourselves and fix it on Jesus. He IS the author and the finisher of our faith. It started with His loving invitation when we were at our worst and will definitely end in glory.  I am not my mistake; I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Sometimes we focus so much on our flaws that we become our own distraction.

The scripture prophecies that the great falling away will mark the end times. This is not one grand event, rather it points to a critical mass formed by personal crisis and the eventual abandonment of ones’ faith in Christ Jesus. No Christian who has renounced their faith in Jesus set out to do so in the end. Hence the scripture warns us,

Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but encourage one another daily, while it is called “today,” lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Failure to stay on the Word of God will ultimately culminate with unbelief. The neglect of the study of the bible and Christian fellowship are pockets of air and bubbles escaping from a believer who is already drowning. Sin is so deadly in its stealth that you are most likely to find it exactly where you are deadly sure it can’t be.

Let us beware of Pride. It is the persistent culprit. It colours, even over colours, the way we picture ourselves. For the Laodicean church this was a big problem. They couldn’t look beyond the material blessings to the fact that their spiritual fire was completely out and the embers of their last revival was quickly dying out, leaving them distastefully Lukewarm to Christ.  Pride is the evil snake with the ability to camouflage excellently. Pride is the snake that even when fatally bruised has the ability to spontaneously regenerate. It can hide behind anything, both the good and the bad. ‘Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall’. Pride make us accountable to no one and make us offended when we encounter the truth about ourselves. Pride can cause an explosive or an implosive reaction when we do not accept the truth, but rather chose to live in self-deception. The only way to displace pride and the accompanying conceit is by daily putting on Christ’s cloak of humility and keeping the heart in a constant state of poverty and neediness of God.

Next time someone points out a glitch in your running program. Whether they are right or wrong it’s actually for your own good. Just go for spiritual scanning. If it’s there, submit yourself for spiritual fixing. If it’s not there- install an anti- virus powerful enough to destroy any satanic attempt to install it. It’s far better to err on the side of caution than to live in foolish and prideful denial.

Scriptural reference: Genesis 4:6, 1 Corinthians 10:12, 2 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 3:12, 1 Timothy 4:16, Revelations 3:17