The Importance of Spiritual Self-Awareness
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Let’s talk about the importance of self-awareness.
Now I’m sure you probably already think you are aware of the importance of self-awareness, but what if I told you that you may not be self-aware of your lack of self awareness?
Oh man see I’m a prime suspect for that. One of my good friends who had no idea I was planning this podcast actually asked me yesterday if I wanted him to hold me accountable in my self-awareness, because apparently it's pretty bad at times. I’m extremely loud and that can cause issues, and I can be extremely focused which can cause issues, like the other day when this same friend was trying to get my attention to say hi and apparently I just completely missed him.
So when you think of someone who lacks self-awareness socially, you can definitely think of me. But today I'm not here to talk about that aspect of self-awareness, today I want to talk about spiritual self-awareness. And the reason why I want to do that is because I’ve been learning so much in regards to that here recently and what I’ve learned is that our amount of spiritual self-awareness significantly impacts the amount of love we can share with people. I want to say it again.
Our amount of spiritual self-awareness significantly impacts the amount of love we can share with people.
Now let me explain.
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Let me give you a hypothetical…alright?
Say you lended money to two friends. Let's say one friend owed you $500 while the other owed you $50. Now let’s say both of them can’t pay you back, and you choose to cancel their debts. Who do you think is going to love you more? The one who had a debt of $500 or the one who had a debt of $50?
If you answered ‘the one who had a larger debt canceled’, you would be just like Simon the Pharisee, not to be confused with Simon Peter, who answered Jesus this way in Luke 7.
Now the reason why Jesus gave that same story and asked Simon the Pharisee that question is because a woman of the city, who is described as a sinner, entered Simon’s house weeping as he hosted Jesus and began to anoint his feet with oil and kissed them. Simon the Pharisee was not happy with this at all, and we know that because in v39 of Luke 7 he says to himself ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner’.
In other words, he is saying ‘this sinful woman doesn’t belong here’. He’s saying ‘that woman doesn’t belong in my house, and she certainly doesn’t belong in the presence of Jesus’.
To put it in perspective it’d be like if you were hosting Jesus at your house and a scraggy, smelly, hasn’t showered in weeks homeless crack addict came walking in, someone you don’t know, who has never been in your house, whose appearance certainly doesn’t match the upkeep of the house - it’d be like if that person came in and started weeping & anointing Jesus’ feet.
So there you are, having cleaned your house spotless to get ready for Jesus, you know, getting everything as neat as it's ever been, you’re preparing the best meal you’ve ever prepared (because of course you know Jesus is the man and He deserves your best). You’ve put on your best outfit and you look GOOD! I mean as good as you’ve ever been, c'mon somebody! And in comes the scraggy smelly hasn’t showered in weeks homeless crack addict.
As you can imagine I’m sure it would be hard not to have a similar reaction to Simon the Pharisee when the sinful woman walked in…I think my immediate reaction would be ‘Who are YOU?’ And what are YOU doing here?’
Like I asked Jesus to eat with me, I asked Him to recline at my table, I did not ask you. O trust me that did not happen..I don’t know if you thought I invited you or something or maybe it got lost in translation but you are not meant to be here! Also you’re ruining the vibe with your uncleanness and your tears. That doesn’t belong in the presence of Jesus. No no no Jesus cannot be with sinners. Especially those as bad as a scraggy smelly crack addict…right? Wrong.
See that’s what Jesus is getting at by sharing this story of the two men with different amounts of debt to Simon the Pharisee.
You see Simon the Pharisee seems to be VERY VERY aware of the woman’s sinfulness & the debt she has.
He seems to be very aware of what's wrong with her, just like we seem to be very aware of what's wrong with the scraggy smelly crack addict in our parallel story, yet at the same time we both, us and Simon the Pharisee, are completely unaware of our own sinfulness.
In short:
We are quick to spot sinfulness in others and slow to spot sinfulness in ourselves.
And that’s not good! That’s awful!
And Jesus explains why that is awful in verses 44-47…He says:
“Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
Hear the end of that right there…verse 47.
‘Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.’
This story in Luke 7, and verse 47 in particular, reveals to us that those closest to Jesus, those who lay at His feet, who seek His face, who find their every need in Him, those who are considered by the Christian world as the holiest and wisest of people, the strongest of Christians - this story right here shows us that those people are ones who are most aware of their sins, ‘which are many’, and of the amount of forgiveness given for them, as said in the verse.
Those who are forgiven little, love little, Jesus says.
In other words, those who don’t understand the immense price paid for them and their sin love very little.
Why? Because they're unaware of the immense love shown to them! And they’re also unaware of their immense need for forgiveness and for saving. See I think a big part of maturing in the faith is growing in the knowledge of your sin and your need for Christ, while also growing in the knowledge of the character of God, which includes His love and grace for us.
And when that happens, we grow in the love that binds everything together in perfect harmony (Colossians 3:14). We grow in our love for people and our love for Jesus. See the sinful woman loved so much, because she had great awareness of the love and forgiveness shown to her, whereas Simon the Pharisee did not.
Would you say you have great awareness of the love and forgiveness shown to you?
Can you see yourself more like the sinful woman than Simon the Pharisee in our passage?
Self-awareness is critical to your faith.
If you are aware of your sin and your need for Christ and you’re constantly growing in knowledge of your need for Christ and allowing that to push you into greater dependency upon Him, that is maturation. That is someone who is growing in love. And that’s what I want for you and for me.
I want us to grow in self-awareness…to grow in our understanding of what Jesus did for us on the cross, and why He did it. I mean He saved us from death!!!!! He has cleared a debt of yours and of mine that no dollar amount can pay!!! Better put, He has cleared a debt of yours and mine that we can never ever repay, taking the death we deserve.
When you come to a greater understanding of that, your life will change. Because those who know they’ve been forgiven much, love much.
Again your amount of spiritual self-awareness significantly impacts the amount of love we can share with people.
So if you and me could come to a greater grasp of that forgiveness shown to us on the cross, if that became a stronger reality in our lives, we wouldn’t love little. No chance. We would love much. We wouldn’t relate to Simon the Pharisee in our story, no, we would relate to the sinful woman weeping at the feet of Jesus.
Growth in spiritual self-awareness leads to growth in dependence upon Jesus (because you realize how much you need Him) which leads to growth in love!!!!!
So I encourage you to pray for the Lord to help you grow in your self-awareness and thus your dependence upon Him, which will lead you to loving so so much in your community, being such a powerful witness for the beautiful name of Jesus Christ.
I love you.
God bless!
