Knowing Yourself

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account”.

Hebrews 4:12‑13 NIV

How difficult it is to know oneself.

Of course, maybe we would not want to know!

There is an idea to do with self-awareness in psychology and it is called the Johari concept. It concerns learning about who we are. The thought is that there is the” hidden self”, of which we are aware, and which we prefer to hide from others. Then there is the” blind self”, which suggests that there are aspects of ourselves that we are unaware of, but that we can be made aware of by others. Hopefully in a helpful way! From this feedback we learn about ourselves.

Thirdly, there is the unknown self. This is what we do not know about ourselves, and neither does anyone else know .That is not quite correct. This area, where we don’t know that we don’t know, is God’s speciality. In his mercy God reveals to us, in part through his word, what we need to be aware of to become like him, who after all, knows us better than we know ourselves.

With God “the secrets of his heart will be laid bare” (1 Corinthians 14:25). Thankfully he knows us, and he is full of mercy.

Prayer:
Thank you, Father, that you reveal to us what we need to know about ourselves in a way that only you can. Thank you that you give us the strength to become more like you.
Amen.

Study by Stewart Raeburn