“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the
flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for
me.” – Galatians 2:20
Perhaps
you have seen them, the old guy at the gym who needs to retire his old muscle
shirt and Richard Simmons outfit. The
lady who should have just left “that dress” on the hanger. Self-awareness, it can be defined as
conscious knowledge of one's own character, feelings, motives, and
desires. Let’s face it, a little
self-awareness never hurt anybody, but a lack of it can hurt somebody. The scripture shows us and Jesus tells us
that in our walk with God we need self-awareness, as defined above, and perhaps
more needful, we need a constant awareness of self.
Self,
that innate human desire to want your own way.
The plain fact is, the desire to please self (that is yourself) reaches
further than glory, honor, and riches.
There are those (I say this with confidence because I was once one of
them) who seek day and night ways to advance themselves. Perhaps it is not always a conscious,
scheming effort in a dark room under a dim light, but rather a natural
inclination that remains unchecked. A
natural inclination that you are at first unaware of, and then willingly
unaware of. When you are in this state there is no self-awareness. Furthermore, the advancing of yourself is not
always as cut throat as perhaps one might think. You don’t see yourself as a conquer going
about daily into battle to kill or cut down anyone in your path. Well, perhaps you do, but in my opinion the
masses do not. Rather they have a set of
rules and convictions, a personal theology of sorts that fits their comfort
zone and serves their needs. This is
their idol, this is their God, their life is directed by their choosing and it
is self before God; not the other way around.
Cain slew Able because his deeds were unrighteous and his brothers
righteous. Cain brought a sacrifice with
his hands, but not with his heart; self, had not been slain and he remained
unrighteous. My brother, my sister, you
can sit in the pews, sing the songs, listen to preaching, and pay the tithe;
but if self remains, and the heart is not perfected by the love of God the
sacrifice is vain. May God help us to
have a consistent and constant awareness of self, and be ever vigilant to keep
self in the grave; to remain crucified with Christ.
The
initial awareness that self (that is your want, ways, and wishes) stand in
between you and God is a beautiful thing.
You are now no longer “lukewarm;” but in a perfect condition to be
saved. Praise God for the convicting but
Fathering Spirit that draws us to Himself, I am so glad he drew me. I am so glad my heart finally called out “Depth
of Mercy can there be mercy still reserved for me? Can my God his wrath forbear? Me the chief of sinners spare?” (Charles
Wesley). Once you have the awareness of
self then all that follows is the crucifixion of it. We must nail it to the cross and leave it
there, be crucified with Christ and then as Christ died and lived we to must die
(spiritually speaking) to live (again spiritually); live for whom? We will live for God through Jesus Christ,
and by Jesus Christ, from that point and on to glory to spend eternity with Him
who died for me.
There
is an absolute necessity for awareness of self. For every person who confesses
to be a Christian (none excluded) must resolve to no longer live this life to
please themselves, but rather to please Him.
Jesus Christ our great example did just that, even in the end, praying
“not my will but thine be done.” The
devil will tempt us all to resurrect self, but let us keep him to the cross,
and be diligent to remain ever self-aware.
