While Jesus was here on earth, he severally warned his disciples against allowing themselves to be deceived. For instance, in Mathew 24:4, Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.
Even today, some people are consciously guarding themselves against being deceived. However, what they are doing, thinking that they are guarding themselves against deception, yet they are indirectly deceiving themselves unknowingly.
In other words, self-deception is really a tragedy because it robs the individual concerned about his/her enviable destiny. That is, the destiny of many is being truncated as a result of self-deception while they thought they are deceiving others.
To be found to be among those engaging in self-deception is nothing but a crime against your destiny, and it is a pity that so many people are really engaged in grand self-deception.
Having said that, I wish to point out that self-deception is seen more as a matter of religion because the devil is really manipulating people into engaging in self-deception without their knowing it.
I said this because lots of people are unaware that it is what we believe is that influences our actions. That is, our actions of yesterday determined what we are today and our actions of today is what will determine who we become tomorrow.
In continuing, I really wish to ask you this crucial question,” are you in control of your life and actions?. I am asking because until we are in control of what we believe, think and act, we cannot claim to be in control of our lives, in other words, we may be deceiving ourselves.
Talking about personal belief systems, thoughts, and actions, I wish to say that lots of people have no personal opinions themselves. For such people, the lives they are living are not their own as they allow others to control and direct their thoughts and beliefs, thereby controlling their actions.
For instance, in Mathew 16:13-19 While Jesus was on earth, One day, he came into the region of Caesarean Philippi, and asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” They replied, saying, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Jesus then turned and asked them, saying, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
Jesus further told Peter saying, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
What I am trying to point out is that we must ensure that we take full charge of our destiny by having personal beliefs and convictions. Rather than allowing the opinion and belief of others to influence their own beliefs and actions.
As we saw in the story above, Jesus commended Peter for having a truly personal opinion about Jesus and for not joining others in what they believed about Jesus.
As said earlier, some people have no personal opinion about most issues, as their actions are based on what others believed and said about such issues.
One instance as seen in the bible is with respect to what happened in John 9:24-25, which gave us the story of the healing of a blind man by Jesus.
The Jews, particularly the Pharisees, had a wrong belief and impression about Jesus and at the same time wished that every other person accept their beliefs. For that reason, for the second time, they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
In other words, they were trying to force the man to accept their belief that Jesus was a sinner. However, the man replied to them saying, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind, but now I see!”
Bringing this home, I wish to point out that today some people have joined to talk rubbish and abuse against some men of God simply because some daughters of Jezebel and men with reprobate hearts have fabricated falsehood against them.
What I am trying to say in essence is that there are some people who had sold their souls to the devil and therefore are doing the bidding of the devil.
Those people exist on social media, and they try to do everything possible to discredit men/women of God. Most of the time, you hear them label men of God as fake while they are praising fake men of God.
Their mission is to poison your mind against men of God so that their ministries cannot be beneficial to you. A man of God you fail to accept, his ministry cannot benefit you.
The point is that they’re false opinions about these men of God, they try to convince others to accept their opinions. That is their opinion, but what about your own opinion? Do you have a personal opinion?
We are entitled to our own opinion, so you cannot force me to accept your own opinion while you refuse to accept mine. To this end, I wish to ask you what you believed about some men of God, is that your personal opinion?
To accept fully and take actions on the basis of other people’s beliefs and opinions without having your own beliefs and opinions are nothing but grand self-deception. Shalom!
