Three things everyone needs to know: #3 Know Yourself

Are you a knowledgeable, well-educated person? Many fit that description, yet how many of those same people really know themselves? Without this understanding, and a proper view of oneself in relation to God and others, one is doomed to fail in life’s most important battles.

Imagine your own army of new recruits. Untested as they are, there is no way to know how they will perform when it really counts. So you train them, teaching them skills and developing the muscle memory to perform. But until they face actual battle you cannot really know your own army in the areas that matter – bravery, obedience, and skill under fire.

So it is with us. We can look back at our performance when we faced difficulty, a trial, a hardship, an adversity. Did we fold under pressure, or did we stand firm in our faith, believing that what God promised He is able to make happen for us? How far did we go? How long did we endure?

Even with that assessment, we can still deceive ourselves into believing that we are better than we really are. This makes us careless where we should be careful, and gives us a false sense of invincibility where we may be quite weak. We might then walk right into areas where we shouldn’t have been in the first place, struggling needlessly.

None of us has it all together, and all of us have limitations. If we have a sober understanding of our own strength, we can properly evaluate what kind of training and discipline we must submit to. Thankfully, God knows where we are, and He is more than willing to lead us into all the training we need. However, He is not going to force us to follow. The Bible says that the proud are basically on their own, but the humble receive the instruction and direction of the Lord. Therefore, humility is a requirement for success in this life. Do you know yourself well enough to know that you absolutely need God?

Can you be humble enough to submit to God’s training program? This program will involve discipline, commitment, and the holiness that causes one to reject many of the “comforts” of this world. It will require deeper relationships with your brothers and sisters in the family of God. It also requires honesty and transparency. These things are not easy, but both present and future success depends on them.
(Psalm 25:9, Matthew 23:12, Psalm 138:6, 2 Corinthians 13:5, Romans 4:19-22, Romans 3:10, Philippians 2:12, James 1:14-16, Ephesians 2:10, 1 Corinthians 3:9-16, Galatians 6:3-5, James 5:16)