While this title may appear severe, it is nevertheless, a true
statement and definition. Unless one is aware of it and caught up in its
tentacles and smothered by its tyranny, self-consciousness may easily remain a
silent monster. It loves to hide under many emotional cloaks and pose as
legitimate in all of them.
I am not a psychologist, and not trying
to pose as one, but I have come to some spiritual revelations that have brought
to light the sinister character of self-consciousness, and some of the awful
consequences of its rule. Because it is a spiritual stronghold
it may have great authority and rule in one’s life. I can testify to this,
for I have been made to see, by the Holy Spirit, what tyranny it has wrought in
my own life.
First of all, it is of the kingdom of
self. Its character is lawlessness, for it is consumed with the
preservation of itself. It is of the carnal mind and therefore hostile to
the will of God. The Scripture is explicit toward the carnal mind and
identifies it as an enemy of the Lord. The following Scripture is a great
definition of the nature of the flesh.
(Rom 8:7-8 NASB) (7) “ … because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward
God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able
to do so; {8} and those who are in
the flesh cannot please God.
This is what our personal cross is about. The Lord
said it like this:
(Luke 9:23-24 NASB) (23) “And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to
come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
{24} "For whoever wishes to save his
life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who
will save it.”
And again He said:
(Luke 14:27 NASB) "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me
cannot be My disciple.”
The very essence of our cross is
the denial of self. The character of the cross was revealed by our Lord when He
prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.
(Luke 22:42 NASB) "Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet
not My will, but Thine be done."
The cross was literally the sacrifice of His own will to the will of the Father.
That’s what our cross is, when God’s will touches our will and we yield to His.
We then become God-conscious.
Next, the Lord showed me that
self-consciousness stood on two legs or strongholds. One was the spirit of
fear which includes the fear of man.
I once
lead a Marriage Seminar and asked the question to some 50 men, “How many of you
will honestly admit that you are afraid of your wife?” 48 of the 50 raised
their hands. I realized later that the other two did also
.
There is much negative and sinful fruit can come from such fear.
Infidelity and lies, broken fellowship and lack of intimacy, are among the many.
These sins can also come from other strongholds of the self-life.
The fundamental emotion of
self-consciousness is intimidation of others, how we measure up to them in our
own eyes, and how we think we measure up to them in their eyes. It is a
self-judgment which is absolutely unwarranted. This can easily motivate
one to be men-pleasers rather than first seeking to please God.
It may also prevent us from
walking in the light concerning many things for fear of rejection or criticism.
It can prevent us from obeying the Lord as we witness or even speak the truth in
love. It is a tyrannical master.
The other is
pride. Pride can be described in one fashion as simple self-respect.
Pride can also be described negatively as an excessively high opinion of
oneself, or self-assertiveness. However, pride is another great stronghold
that preserves the self-life. It defies the cross. Our Lord spoke to
this matter in this fashion.
(Mat 11:29-30 KJV) (29) “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am
meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
{30} For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light.”
One of the most beautiful definitions of meekness I have ever run across is as
follows.
Described negatively, meekness is the opposite to
self-assertiveness and self-interest; it is equanimity of spirit that is neither
elated nor cast down, simply because it is not occupied with self at all.
I
would interject at this point a Biblical judgment concerning strongholds. It is
found in the following Scripture.
(2 Cor 10:4-5 KJV) (4) (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
{5} Casting down imaginations, and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”
The Biblical judgment against
strongholds is that they exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. In
declaring that it exalts itself, it is implying that it takes the place of
God. This is one of the great thrusts of our adversary, the Devil.
The evidence of this if found in 2 Corinthians 3:3-4.
(3) “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled
to those who are perishing, {4} in whose case the god of this world has blinded
the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of
the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Self-Consciousness is then a trap, a stronghold that keeps us from
truly representing the Lord of the Kingdom, our Lord Jesus Christ. It also keeps
us from the knowledge of our Lord that is rightfully ours.
The question now becomes how do we overcome self-consciousness?
First, we must become aware of it and
confess it is a personal sin, not simply a problem. God does not forgive
problems, just sin. Many times one is already aware of it, but if not, we
may simply ask the Father to reveal it to us. Acknowledgement is always
the first step toward release of any spiritual issue/sin in our lives
. The next step is repentance, or a turning away from it. We must
remember that repentance is an act of our will which then empowers us by the
Holy Spirit to do it.
