What Does it Mean to Know Yourself?
We are all people in a state of personal change. How we are today is not how we will be tomorrow. This is a good thing! "Knowing yourself" is really understanding your "current self" and comparing this to God's design for how he wants us to be. The world tells us that we need to be independent and “self-reliant". Many of us, currently, are on this path. The problem is, reliance on self is not the way God intended us to be!
If your current-self believes that there is no God, then self-reliance is all you currently have. Believing that there is no God results in “life foundations” focused on the pursuit of things, successes, accomplishments, and acceptance from others...because, as you believe, there is no larger purpose for existing. We call these things, "idols". These things are fleeting. If you succeed in obtaining these things, you will grow conceited and proud. If you fail in obtaining these things, you will grow frustrated, anxious, and angry.
As human beings, we are very focused on self. God intended us to focus on Him ... He is not fleeting ... We will never lose God ... He will never make us proud or conceited ... When we understand what God has done for us, we become humble and focus on service to others.
Know how deeply flawed we all are, and know what we should become ... Know Yourself!
Key Points to Consider
- As humans we tend to focus on ourselves, our own well being, what we have, and what we intend to get. If we succeed, then we claim it is our own doing. If we fail, we cast blame on others or punish ourselves.
- Humans tend to focus on four main "deep-idols": (1) seeking power, (2) seeking approval, (3) seeking comfort, and (4) seeking control.
- Focusing on "deep idols" makes us dwell on our problems rather than what is good, dwell on how others view us, chase false definitions of happiness, search for self-worth through actions, search for joy through actions, and accept distorted truths.
- To know yourself is to know how deeply flawed you are as a human. This is how we are ... why else would we chase so many "deep idols" looking for happiness?
- Our need for self-worth is so powerful that whatever we base our identity and value on, we essentially deify.
- We become addicted to the things upon which we build our identity and become enslaved to keeping those things, not unlike a physical addiction.
- If we don't get the things we desire then we are hurt, if we get them then we idolize them and then we are hurt worse.
- If we understand our "current self", then we have taken our first step towards accepting our new self!
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one to his own way ...”
“If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realise that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.”
“I clearly recognize that all good is in God alone, and that in me, without Divine Grace, there is nothing but deficiency. . . .”
“And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” ”