A Christian can never progresses spiritually if he does not know himself. Neither can he progress further if he self-examine or introspect.
The Bible does not command Christians to examine themselves, because introspection is not only unprofitable, but it hinders the progress of our growth. The apostle Paul did not care how others judged him. He did not even judge himself. He said, "Do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then there will be praise to each from God" (1 Cor. 4:5). Paul knew that only when the Lord shines His light, we know what is right and what is wrong.
If a Christian repeatedly look at himself, he will surely fail. He will either be proud and consider himself better than his companions when he thinks that he has no fault or he will be discouraged when he thinks about his faults. If our self-knowledge comes from the shining of God, then the results will be different.
Here is a fable about a centipede and a frog...
During their conversation the frog asked the centipede. “You have so many feet, how do you walk? When you walk, which of your hundred feet moves first?” So the centipede tried to figure out which foot moved first. No matter how he tried he could not put forth one foot. He became so disgusted that he declared, “I do not care, I am going.” Yet before he could make a move, he was again thinking of which foot moved first. He was thus completely paralyzed. After a while the sunlight broke through the cloud. When he saw the light his heart was so enthralled with it that he just ran after the sunlight. Gone was his concern over the order of his foot movement. He was actually moving forward.
Now this fable can serve as a mirror to our Christian life. Whenever we turn to look at ourselves we are immobilized and cannot advance; but if we look at the light of God, we shall unconsciously move ahead.
Hebrews 12:2 says: "Looking away unto Jesus..."
In order for us to look unto, we must first look away.. We must first look away from what we should not be looking at; then we can look unto what we should. Our spiritual living is based upon looking unto Jesus.
Therefore, we need to look away unto Jesus...
The Bible does not command Christians to examine themselves, because introspection is not only unprofitable, but it hinders the progress of our growth. The apostle Paul did not care how others judged him. He did not even judge himself. He said, "Do not judge anything before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then there will be praise to each from God" (1 Cor. 4:5). Paul knew that only when the Lord shines His light, we know what is right and what is wrong.
If a Christian repeatedly look at himself, he will surely fail. He will either be proud and consider himself better than his companions when he thinks that he has no fault or he will be discouraged when he thinks about his faults. If our self-knowledge comes from the shining of God, then the results will be different.
Here is a fable about a centipede and a frog...
During their conversation the frog asked the centipede. “You have so many feet, how do you walk? When you walk, which of your hundred feet moves first?” So the centipede tried to figure out which foot moved first. No matter how he tried he could not put forth one foot. He became so disgusted that he declared, “I do not care, I am going.” Yet before he could make a move, he was again thinking of which foot moved first. He was thus completely paralyzed. After a while the sunlight broke through the cloud. When he saw the light his heart was so enthralled with it that he just ran after the sunlight. Gone was his concern over the order of his foot movement. He was actually moving forward.
Now this fable can serve as a mirror to our Christian life. Whenever we turn to look at ourselves we are immobilized and cannot advance; but if we look at the light of God, we shall unconsciously move ahead.
Hebrews 12:2 says: "Looking away unto Jesus..."
In order for us to look unto, we must first look away.. We must first look away from what we should not be looking at; then we can look unto what we should. Our spiritual living is based upon looking unto Jesus.
Therefore, we need to look away unto Jesus...
