Discovering Who You Are Begins with Telling Yourself the Truth
I remember an early autumn afternoon from my boyhood. I snuck into my parent’s room to raffle through their things, searching for a few dollars to spend at school. We were poor (hence my desire to plunder my parents' room in the first place to discover something). All that I found was a change jar with a very shiny silver dollar crowning a pile of pennies. Slightly disappointed, I confiscated the silver dollar and decided to leave the scene, though now with a strange feeling that I had left the room with less than I had entered with.It hadn't even been a full day before my crime was noticed, and my parents had accused me of taking the dollar (though I had hidden it pretty well, so they couldn't prove it yet). Long story short, I lied about my involvement in the whole affair and went about my business.Throughout the next week, I paced the sidewalks in-between classes at school repeatedly. I was telling myself out loud the same lie that I had given to my parents. Rehearsing so I could have a moment’s peace from my pestering conscience. I did this so often. With such resolve, I eventually convinced myself that I actually hadn't taken the dollar and that my parents were totally unjustified in accusing me of such a crime!
I’m amazed at the human ability to deceive.
But our best deception occurs between the person that stares back when we look into the mirror and us. Our capacity for self-deception knows no bounds, and this traps us into our own cages of blindness. We may walk around with masks on for the world. Our inner mask possesses the real threat. If we never discover who we really are in our inner person, we are doomed to live this life caged by lies, uncertainties, fear, and doubt.
Related Post: His Grace Is Sufficient For All
Now there is hope for us all in God’s Word to reveal our true inner person. We must not stop at simply seeking the generalized truths given to all of God’s children. After discovering, accepting, and applying these scriptural truths, we must search for those inner specifics. The specifics define our originality and uniqueness because God has made each of us exclusively.
Thus we are set free from self-deception and empowered to live out our true identities outside of our own skin.
This is step one. I will leave you with a powerful concept. One to help you get started on the right foot. Jeremiah 1:5 NLT I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born, I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations."
James Allen (Quote): “Man is always the master, even in his weaker and most abandoned state; but in his weakness and degradation he is the foolish master who misgoverns his “household.”
When he begins to reflect upon his condition and search diligently for the Law upon which his being is established, he becomes the wise master. He begins directing his energies with intelligence and fashioning his thoughts to fruitful issues. Such is the conscious master, and can only thus become by discovering within himself the laws of thought; which discovery is totally a matter of application, self-analysis, and experience.”