Richard Dawson, 29 July 2014

Knowing ourselves is the best way to get our ‘doing’ right. We often mistake knowing the right for doing it. But we all know that most often the wrong thing is done despite knowing what the right thing was. Moral knowledge is not a
panacea for immorality. From the very beginning Adam and Eve knew where the boundaries in the garden were but that did not stop them breaking those boundaries. The great trap in Christian living these days is so often that we stop at the knowing and we refuse to go on in the doing. Hypocrisy was a word often on the lips of Jesus. But how does knowing our self, help with doing? In the first place when I know myself I cannot hide from my wrong thinking or from the knowledge that right thinking alone will keep me safe from wrong doing.
Knowing myself truly means knowing my propensity for wrong-doing and knowing this, is a first step towards repentance—toward changing one’s mind/heart. Positively, however, knowing oneself as God knows us allows us to determine what we are best suited to—literally what we were made for. God places within us certain proclivities which, in concert with the Holy Spirit, will bless His world. Our task is to discover these and to apply them to this work to the best of our ability. When we do this the Spirit is able to take our meagre offerings—our 5 fish and two small loaves—and feed thousands of people. Our gifts then take on their true spiritual identity providing shelter for many and hope for all. Press into self-knowledge.