Some time ago, I heard this sermon, “How Can We Deceive Ourselves?” When I heard the title, my ears perked up. I felt this was a lesson I really needed to hear and learn what to do to not deceive myself. I knew it was something I must put into my daily life. I am afraid we all at times deceive ourselves, and I know I do.
We want to believe we are better people than we really are. We say we have not done or said anything wrong, but what about our attitude toward others? The Scriptures teach us to take heed lest we fall in 1 Corinthians 10:12. This means not to think more highly of ourselves than we should. Therefore, we must be able to think of ourselves as we really are. What do we think of ourselves?
It is bad when we are deceived by others. When we are misled by others, we may be excused once. There is a saying that goes something like this, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” We must stay alert and follow God’s Word. We are told in 1 Peter 5:8 that the devil is always going about seeking whom He can devour or con, either by ourselves or by others. He wants us to believe a lie and to be deceived, just as he conducted himself in the Garden of Eden when he interacted with Adam and Even. The devil told Eve a lie by changing what God had told her and Adam by just one word. They were told to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, for God said they would die. However, the sly devil came to her as a serpent and deceived Eve by lying to her. He told her she would not die (Genesis 3:3-8). Satan was very sly with his conversation with Eve. Is He sly with us, causing us to believe his lies?
The apostle Paul said in Galatians 6:7 and Thessalonians 2:2-3 that man can be deceived. We must keep ourselves focused on the Word of God and His commandments. By doing this it will be harder for anyone to deceive us including ourselves. We must always keep our eyes and ears open, because the Devil is watching and waiting for a weak moment for us to be scammed.
First John 4:1-2 says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.” There are so many false teachers in the world – on the radio, on the television and on the Internet. We can turn any of these electronics on any time of the day and hear false teaching. Therefore, we must listen carefully to preachers, teachers, elders and anyone bringing us lessons from the Bible. Then, we must read and study the Word of God to check what we have been taught is the truth (Acts 17:10-11). If the teachings are false, do not deceive yourself by following the false teachers. We are told in James 1:22, “But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” We must obey God totally, rather than doing only what pleases us. The devil tempts us, and we do not want to fall into temptations, by which we deceive ourselves.
There are several ways we can deceive ourselves, such as:
- By building upon the sand just like the foolish man in Matthew 7:26-27. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
- By not bridling our tongues and letting whatever we think come out. The Bible says in James 1:26, “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.” Also, James 3:6 tells us, “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.”
- By trying to balance evil with good. We are told in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Some Christians try to be good one day of the week – Sunday – and live like the devil the other six days of the week. We cannot straddle the fence, trying to serve God and Satan.
- By listening to human philosophers, against whom we are warned in Colossians 2:8. “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”
- By hiding our sins. Others may not see our sins, but our Heavenly Father knows all and sees all. We are told in 1 John 1:8-10, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” Our spouses may not even know our sins, but God does, and we cannot hide anything from Him.
- By thinking too highly of ourselves. We learn in Galatians 6:3-5, “For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examines his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load.”
- By trying to mock God. Galatians 6:7-8 reads, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”
Please let us consider how important it is to be focused on living for the Lord and following His Word seven days a week. We must live a faithful life 24/7, not just when it is convenient. Let us not be deceived by ourselves, by anyone else or by the devil. We must follow God’s Word as best as we can to inherit eternal life. Revelation 2:10 reminds us of an incomparable reward that awaits the children of God. “…Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
