I was strolling through the shelves of the local Barnes and Noble bookstore. I saw a title of a book in the self-help section titled ‘Wherever You Go, There You Are’. It made me laugh a little. It’s one of those obvious statements that also happens to be profound. I think there was a country song by the same name. What was I doing in the self-help section? None of your business. No, seriously, the self-help section of a bookstore is a great reminder that you don’t have it all figured out. There’s just so much information out there that gives us the possibility to learn and grow. Of course, we need to be discerning, and also limit it to the things that apply to us.
But getting back to the title of that book. This title is basically a reference to the fact that we are ever present with ourselves. Whatever problems or issues we may have, we take them with us wherever we go. We are the only person we can’t run away from. So, the implication is that it’s best that we try to deal with those problems. Although, that’s not often our natural response is it? Depending on the issues we have, or are facing, our first response can often be one of denial. We just don’t want to face the reality of ourselves sometimes. And even if we are willing to face our realities, we often don’t want to go through the hard work of working through our problems.
The advantage we have with other people is that we can keep our distance from them. We may think to ourselves, “You’re annoying me.” So, then we choose to part ways with that person. But when we start to annoy ourselves, we can’t just run away. We either have to change our annoying behavior or live in denial. I think that’s why we develop a kind of disconnect with ourselves sometimes. We’re not seeing the full picture of who we are. What we don’t see, we’re not aware of. And what we’re not aware of, we can’t change.
So much of our personal growth is based on our becoming self-aware. Once I see the areas I need to work on, then I can begin to work on them. If I begin to recognize I have a problem with being judgmental of others, then I can start to address that area. But if I don’t see it as an issue, it’s pretty tough to deal with it. That’s an interesting one, by the way. We are often the last ones that we want to judge. Our tendency is to judge everyone else first. Then, when we get around to it we’ll start working on ourselves. And that’s if we ever get back around to ourselves at all. We might just end up skipping that person in the mirror. That person gets an exemption—a ‘get out of jail free’ card.
The Bible has quite a lot to say about how we relate to ourselves, and how we see ourselves. We don’t always see the truth of who we are. But even when we can’t see that truth, God can help us with this as well.
AV 1 Corinthians 11:31: “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” This verse gets to the heart of this issue. We can avoid judgement by others if we go through the trouble to judge ourselves first. Or, at least when we change others won’t have reason to judge us. But more importantly, when we judge ourselves and make positive changes, then we don’t come under judgement according to God and His word. Because now we are living in line with His word and what it says.
AV Isaiah 53:6: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” This speaks to the truth that we all have gotten out of line with the truth at times. We have all thought at times that we knew what was best. But it mostly speaks to the truth of our need for a savior. Jesus bore our sins on the cross. And this is what allows us to begin to make the positive changes that we need to make in our lives.
AV Proverbs 14:12: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.” When we each turn to our own way, we are making that decision based on what seems to be right. This is a tricky thing. The reason is because things aren’t always what they seem. The reason we need God and His word is so that we can know what is true. Without it, there’s just a never-ending number of choices that only seem to be right, but actually aren’t.
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AV James 1:22: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” Sometimes we deceive ourselves because our actions don’t line up with what we say we believe. This is also one of the greatest deceptions. The reason this verse says this is deception is because we can know what we believe by what we do. That’s our faith in action. And this is living a truly authentic life—when we act on what the word says.
AV Galatians 6:3: “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” When we think we’re greater than we actually are, this is another form of deception. Pride is often the cause of this. We tend to want to see ourselves in a greater light than is actually there. But when we do this we are in denial. God will show us who we actually are if we ask Him to. He will reveal the reality of who we are to ourselves. This is often scary. But it’s the best thing for us in the end. We don’t have to run from ourselves. We can have the courage, with God’s help, to stay and bravely face who we are and make the changes that need to be made in us. And this is how He begins to change us into the likeness of Christ.
AV 1 Corinthians 11:31: “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.”
AV Isaiah 53:6: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
AV Proverbs 14:12: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.”
AV James 1:22: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
AV Galatians 6:3: “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.”