Deceiving Yourself

Deceiving Yourself

In 1 John 1:8, we read: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Most of us would never say this out loud. Neither do we think it using these exact words. Nevertheless, in practice, we “say” it when, for example, we judge others, blame others, or cannot bear to hear an uncomfortable truth about ourselves. Then we deceive ourselves, and the truth has no place in us.

If we take a closer look at the word self-deception, this is precisely what it means: living in an imagined reality—believing something about others, about oneself, about God, or about our own situation—that is not true. It is the process whereby a person, consciously or unconsciously, deceives themselves in order to avoid facing an unpleasant truth, a responsibility, or a difficult reality. No one else is deceiving us; we are deceiving ourselves.

The danger of self-deception is also mentioned in several places in the New Testament. Jas. 1:22 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” And in Gal. 6:3: “For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” In all these verses, we see the same common thread: a lack of the love of the truth about our own sin.

Living in self-deception must be a terribly tragic condition and a dark and dangerous place to be. We are not even aware of it ourselves, and at the same time it is written that the truth is not in us. But how can we then be “. . . faithful to the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ”? Eph. 4:15. [Norw.]

When the truth about ourselves is not allowed in, we turn our gaze outward instead. We easily form strong opinions about what the people around us are saying and doing—how they are spending their time, their money, how they are raising their children, and so on. Basically, we often think we know better. But when we truly desire to find our own sin, what others are doing becomes of absolutely no interest. There is freedom in knowing that we don’t have to have an opinion about everything and everyone.

May I always love the truth about my own sin and pursue salvation.

May I constantly turn my gaze inward.

May I never forget that I don’t see everything clearly, don’t understand everything fully, and don’t know everything for certain.

May I always seek God’s truth and His thoughts, and not trust my own thoughts—neither about myself nor about others.

Then life becomes easy and straightforward. And in this way, I can be used by God as an instrument to help, support, edify, and encourage those around me. As David says in Ps. 25:4–5: “Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day.”