In understanding self, there’s a realization of life; that man is a living soul, not an object. Man is ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’. Man has the capacity to act upon his environment not just react to his environment. Man has freewill and is not merely a robot. Through many seemingly innocent philosophies and practices, the soul’s adversary wants man to view himself as objects. By viewing and acting as though man is an object, the sovereignty of God is repudiated. True productivity is the result of acknowledging that personal actions can produce positive results. It’s the essence of the commandment ‘be fruitful and multiply’. Unfortunately, through deception of the soul’s adversary, there is encouragement for man to become an obstacle to their neighbor’s fulfillment of the commandment.
In understanding self, there is a realization and acceptance of strengths and weaknesses. Man faces reality; dealing honestly with issues, not suppressing them. The result is man becomes a living epistle; develops a testimony. Many individuals have experiences but very few have testimonies. When a person provides a testimony, there’s no pride or shame. It’s given in accordance with the character of God. There’s glory given to God. In contrast, when a person recites experiences, there’s great concern about public image or personal pride. A testimony confirms that the character of God is able to bring forth life from a death-like situation.
In understanding self, there’s humility before God. There’s realization that humility is not self-abasement or self-abuse (e.g. self-talk that states ‘I’m nothing’, but rather humility recognizes that man is unique creation, “I’m somebody’; there’s personal confidence). In fact, self-abasement or self-abuse is actually deceptive insomuch it denies the sovereignty of God.
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