The heart is deceitful above all and desperately wicked

Have you ever noticed that it’s very easy to see the faults in others, but not so easy to see them in ourselves? Have you noticed that people are more ready to blame others, that to take responsibility for their part in whatever went wrong. Have you observed that other people tend to minimize their own faults, while at the same time maximizing the other person’s? Have you ever thought that most people seem to have things out of balance, but when you look at your own life you seem to be perfectly in balance?

When I think about this, I like to ask myself if everyone else I see is blind and out of balance, can I be the only one who is not? And if I am honest, I put the probability of this null hypothesis being true, as very close to zero.

So why is this, why are we all so blind to our own faults? I got into trouble, even among Christians, for quoting this verse at the head of this post from Jeremiah 17:9. The reality, the truth, and the applicability of this to my own life, came home to me in a very dramatic way many years ago now. I had gone through a broken marriage, and had blamed her 100% for what went wrong. So convinced was I, that she was evil that I had murder in my heart. And the scary thing for me, is that I am not at all sure that I would not have gone through with it if I thought I could’ve gotten away with it. But when the Holy Spirit convicted me of sin, I started to see that I was very far from blameless, I was devastated. I am grateful however, that He showed this to me, because when He did, two important things happened.

The first was that I started to see that there was much truth and wisdom in the Scriptures. I was saying things like “This book knows me!” In particular it knows my propensity to rationalize my actions and to blame others rather than take responsibility for them. I saw truly that my heart had deceived me. The second thing, was I started to see my need for Him and His guidance, and this led to my repentance, subsequent conversion, and the start of a life worth living!

Father, thank You for revealing to me how very much I need You, and how very much I needed to be rescued from myself. Thank You Lord that Your ways are good and right and wholesome, and that they increasingly bring life in all its fullness (John 10:10b). In Jesus Name Amen