November 1

"For I know nothing against myself; yet am I not hereby justified." 1 Corinthians 4:4

"Who can disarm his errors?" asks the psalmist. The answer is, no one. By ourselves we cannot accurately know our faults. If, as Jeremiah said so forcefully, our hearts are deceitful above all things, then how can our attempts at introspection be trustworthy?

Examining ourselves with a deceitful heart, we will inevitably be deceived. Our thoughts and emotions are highly complex in their working, so the knowledge derived from them is undependable. We cannot be accurate in our self-judgments.

For this reason, introspection is not a virtue but a huge mistake. Only when the light of the Lord shines in is one able to discern what is right and what is wrong. If a Christian considers his defects overmuch, he is downcast; if he thinks upon his virtues, he grows proud. The only knowledge of self which is safe and healthy comes from the shining in of the light of God.