Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 2 Corinthians 13:5
It is very easy to deceive oneself. Self-deception is one of those practices that, consciously or unconsciously, attaches itself to human life. It is important to know this, and it is critical to understand it, especially if we are Christians and want to live, exemplify, and influence others in a way that glorifies God.
For this reason, it is important that we pray constantly so that our lives reflect sincere honesty. Self-deception is a weed that will be impossible to uproot unless we possess honesty. Seeing our corruption is vital, and recognizing it before God in our private prayers is essential.
Unfortunately, honesty is a value misunderstood by Christianity today. We believe that being honest only implies avoiding the most explicit sins in the Law of God. We may avoid stealing, killing, deceiving others, etc.; but this does not always apply to ourselves. We deceive ourselves day after day, and this taints the work we want to do for the Lord.
Many Christians live their lives as if error were something foreign to them. Many bear a bad witness to the unconverted by failing to recognize that, even in their current lives as Christians, temptations are present every day, and that the only way we can obtain victory is through sincere and constant prayer.
This is not something that is talked about today. Many Christians judge their brothers and non-believers alike, as if they themselves were free from the trials we all face. The lack of honesty has caused a great number of believers with platforms that allow them to reach thousands (if not millions) of people to speak from a pedestal so high that it makes them feel like judges of the world with God's approval.
A believer with a sincere desire to please God must examine themselves day after day. Without exception. They must ask themselves how they might have failed God today, how their interaction with their fellow men was, what thoughts and words might have distanced them from true communion with their Heavenly Father, and, having remembered, pour out their heart to their God so that He may lift them up from their fall and so that the next day they may receive the strength to restrain their tendencies and overcome the battles lost the day before.
Many Christians do not think this way. In fact, the mere act of considering such a thing is repulsive to them. In a time when self-perceived moral superiority reigns, there is no room for self-examination. The distortion of the Word of God has reached a new peak, and thanks to this, millions of people do nothing but dishonor the name of God. If those who claim to represent His character cannot put it into practice in their own lives, they do nothing more than fulfill what was said by our Lord Jesus Christ:
"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." Matthew 23:13
The purpose of this message is precisely to invite all believers to check their own eye before looking at their neighbor's. It is important to remember that every victory won against our inclinations to evil is not our own merit because, unfortunately, once we forget that our struggle is daily and that it is Jesus who gives us the victory, our conscience will begin to be seared, and we will do nothing more than self-perceive as something we are not: true Christians, true children of God.
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