Self-Awareness
My wife has written many times on her blog, “My Daily Treasures,” about her love for the “delete” key. She will often read a Facebook post that makes her so angry that she’ll write a scathing reply. But before she clicks “reply,” she reconsiders – she is self-aware – so she hits the delete key.
If we are Christians, then we must practice self-awareness. There are copious reasons for self-awareness, not the least of which is that satan is against us. I don’t just mean in some ethereal, universal sense. I mean, he wants to kill you and me.
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser [Satan] of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. – Revelation 12:10
Our failures do not justify our failing
Yes, day and night, the enemy of God is saying bad things about you and me. I’m sure that some of what he says is true, for none of us is perfect. But our failures do not justify our failing. Failures are a natural characteristic of people.
You and I are people. We fail. When we sincerely repent (1 John 1:9) then God forgives. But let me repeat this. Just because we have failed and God has forgiven does not make it okay for us to fail again. Will God forgive again? If we have a contrite (repentant) heart, then yes. But the point is that we need to walk circumspectly.
See then that you walk circumspectly [watchful and discreet; cautious; prudent], not as fools, but as wise, – Ephesians 5:15
We are to be self-aware, which means we are cautious about what we think and say. We are to do this so that people and the enemy of God have nothing real for their accusations.
The prophet Jeremiah is generally believed to have written the Old Testament book of Lamentations. Jeremiah was deeply acquainted with vicious verbal and physical attacks by the false prophets of Israel and King Zedekiah. He is known as the “weeping prophet” because of the messages God had him prophesy against the Israelites, but we find a message to be self-aware in a prophetic message that God gave him.
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
– Lamentations 3:21-22
Calling to mind
By remembering what God has said and what He has done we become stronger and more effective in God’s hand. The psalmist wrote:
I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. – Psalm 119:11
As we fill our roles in God’s calling, I pray that we are continually self-aware and not afraid to hit that “delete” key when our acid tongue demands that we lash out at others. Let’s not give satan any ammunition for the constant attacks he brings to God against us.
Photo by u j e s h on Unsplash
You may like: Victory