Have you deceived yourself?

The Bible has a lot to say about deception.

The more blatant attempts at deception, such as lying, slandering, false teaching, etc., are clearly condemned in scripture.

But so is self-deception.

Sprinkled throughout the Bible are stories that reveal our attempt to lie to, and purposely deceive, the person we make such an attempt to mislead the most: Ourselves.

From the more well-known mention of self-deception by James in James 1:22, to the self-deception it required of Ananias and Sapphira to attempt to deceive the church (and, especially the Holy Spirit!) as recorded in Acts 5, many people have so woven deception, and self-deception, into their lives that they no longer can easily separate the truth from their generated fiction about their own selves.

A key way this is revealed in our lives is thinking we are people of high moral character because of the things we do occasionally. But here’s the deception, and self-deception, in that:

The “occasional” is generally not reflective of our real character. The “occasional kindness,” “occasional thoughtfulness,” “occasional generosity,” “occasional attentiveness” are more signs of lack in those things than they are signs of their being strong character traits.

Our true character, and who we really are, is revealed in how we think, feel, and act consistently.

The person of faith isn’t a person of faith only when things are comfortable, they’re a person of faith day in, and day out.

A kind person isn’t the one who occasionally practices random acts of kindness, it’s the person who is consistently kind.

A person isn’t generous because they occasionally give sacrificial giving, they’re considered generous because they consistently give self-sacrificially.

But instead of cooperating with the Holy Spirit in His transforming work in our lives, and instead of being wholly devoted to being holy and growing to maturity in Christ, it’s much easier to convince ourselves we’re “good people” by occasionally doing certain things, even though we may not want to.

That’s deceiving ourselves.

As we transition from summer to a quieter season in the fall, it’s a great time to ponder how honest we really are, not just with others, and with God, but also with ourselves. Ask yourself, “Who is the real me that I’m taking into the final months of 2024”

One other thing, you might find interesting reading a bit more on this subject with my book, “Being A Person of Integrity.” You can find out more about the book by clicking here.

Scotty