Humility: Key to God-Honoring Self-Awareness
Recently, a person I’ve known for a long time pointed out a behavior of which I was unaware. Fortunately, I didn’t react but listened without denying or minimizing what was said. Later, I asked my husband if he had noticed this behavior in me. He said, “Sure. You do that—just like your dad!” Ouch!! What I was doing represented something I never much liked in my father!
Here’s the thing about this unflattering realization. What my friend revealed, and what my husband confirmed is a behavior, and BEHAVIORS CAN BE CHANGED!
The roots of this behavior run deeply, and it will take effort and time to change. To help me succeed, I’ve asked my husband and two dear, trustworthy friends to remind me whenever they observe me doing what truly I no longer want to do.
In addition, I’ve prayed asking for help from the Holy Spirit, described by Jesus as the Spirit of truth (John 15:26) and by an Old Testament prophet as the Spirit of counsel. (Isaiah 11:2).
I imagine this journey of change will be three steps forward and two steps backward. But if I persevere, I will make progress in eliminating—or at least minimizing—an offensive and unwanted behavior.
Self-awareness is not a comfortable process. I couldn’t, however, agree more with Thomas à Kempis, a 14th Century Christian writer, who points out what I believe: God-honoring self-awareness/knowledge will lead me to greater God-awareness, which will then undoubtedly lead to even greater self-awareness.
A thought we can all chew on today!
Blessings on your journey leading to God-honoring self-awareness…
