Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ

Never Trust Yourself

JEREMIAH 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

THEME OF THE DAY. NEVER TRUST YOURSELF. The evidence is everywhere. The carnage stretches across many families and churches. The horrible results are not difficult to see. The pain is felt by many. I am referring to the damage that occurs when individuals rely upon themselves in their own understandings, feelings, emotions, and make significant decisions, especially spiritual decisions. More often than not, when Christians don’t seek godly counsel outside of biased family members or friends that simply agree with them, what unfolds are decisions producing serious spiritual consequences doing great harm to themselves, their testimonies for the Lord Jesus, and may extend to other people, especially their families. Sadly, the pictures I painted above are not fiction. In my fifteen years of pastoral ministry, I have witnessed too many Christians make emotional, impulsive decisions in life that led them into significant spiritual problems. But we don’t have to be in the list of casualties that do this. There are two Biblical principles to follow to safeguard us from our worst spiritual enemy – ourselves.

First, realize how depraved, deceived, and unreliable the human heart is. Put today’s scripture to memory and when tempted to make a decision, stop and ask, “Am I making this decision solely on what I think is best?” Then follow up that question with obedience to this wise counsel from King Solomon – Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6). If we are going to make progress and protect ourselves from ourselves, then resolve to never trust ourselves, even when the decision appears right and feels right. Appearances and feelings are never to be trusted. They are not accurate or reliable.

The second thing to do when making decisions is seek godly counsel – Without counsel, plans go awry, But in the multitude of counselors they are established (Proverbs 15:22). But there are requirements for the counsel sought to be godly. First, the individuals must be spiritually mature with a solid foundation of Biblical knowledge. They must know their Bibles and give “whole Bible counsel” not just isolated texts taken out of context. Next, the persons we seek for counsel must be devoted to prayer; deep relational prayer and this will be shown by their Christ-centeredness. In their counsel, Jesus will be primary and His glory sought foremost. A third requirement in those we seek counsel from is they must be committed to tell us what we need to hear, not what we may want to hear. Too many Christians give themselves a pass by thinking they have sought good, impartial counsel because they talked it over with a spouse, a close friend, or someone who already agrees with the direction they want the decision to go. These are serious danger flags. We must put aside what we want, what we think is right, and listen to sound Biblical counsel, even if it goes against our own understanding. If we don’t, one of the workings of our deceitful hearts is self-justification. We will justify our decision even when it begins to unfold as being unwise, impulsive, and not based on objective truth of scriptures. Regret soon follows and the decision may not be able to be reversed.

Never trust yourself. Learn to live this out daily. It will protect you from possibly shipwrecking your spiritual life leading to many regrets over decisions unwisely made.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to see how deceptive and self-justifying my heart is and never to trust it in anything.”

QUOTE: “Nothing good ever comes from trusting yourself or receiving counsel from those who only agree with you”