October is breast cancer awareness month. We are reminded all around by the color pink what a harmful and sometimes life threatening condition breast cancer is. And the need to find a cure. Spiritually speaking there are things in our lives that are like cancer. They eat away at the very life that God has given to us. We must be made aware of them. They must be removed.
I have to share this with you. The Lord is walking me through a season of self-awareness. This was an email devotional from Daughters of Promise this morning - this is NOT from me. Jeremiah 29:13 says that if we seek Him with all our heart we will find Him. Oh that we strive to be like Jesus - in every way and in every season!
SELF-AWARENESS
Aliens have devoured his strength, but he does not know it; yes, gray hairs are here and there on him, yet he does not know it. And the pride of Israel testifies to his face, but they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek Him for all this. Hosea 7:8-10
Self-awareness is one of the keys to success. We must know how others experience us. We must ask God to consistently reveal our blind spots. Otherwise, we will be like these Israelites. They were void of strength but saw themselves as powerful. They were aged and weak but feigned virility. They were proud and spurned their need for God yet believed themselves to be in His favor.
Blind spots are frightening. Have you ever had dinner with a small group and thought, "Boy, he talks a lot, but he doesn't seem to know it." Everyone at the table is polite and gives him their attention. Happy in the spotlight, he talks all the more and is unaware of how he is being experienced. Or perhaps you are part of an intimate Bible Study and one member of your circle is negative. Everyone there is braced for her arrival, knowing the atmosphere will change as soon as she enters the room. She, also, is unaware of herself. She does not see that she is toxic to the environment of vibrant fellowship.
Anytime we think we are one thing but actually another, we walk in the shoes of these Israelites. Hosea prayed for them and perhaps others are praying for us, that we would come to know a certain truth about ourselves that is hidden when we look in the mirror. There is terror at the thought of knowing ourselves as we really are. Is there really no good thing in us without Jesus? That is the essence of the Gospel. We come to Christ racked with spiritual cancer. No part of us is exempt from the ravages of sin. Intuitively, we do know the truth but run from it.
Oh, that we would embrace the art of self-awareness and see our depravity. It is only then that we plunge into the depths of Christ and covet the robes of righteousness that he offers to put around our shoulders. We must not wallow in the fact that we are undeserving. Let us seize the gift of His love and celebrate the fact that Christ's transforming power has come to live within us. Perfect love casts out all fears of marred images in the looking glass.
Show me myself and just why You had to give Your life for me. Amen
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Christine Wyrtzen
Daughters of Promise
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