Can personal effectiveness be swallowed up by too much introspection? Could one’s destiny be sadly altered and negatively determined by his own limited (but finely-tuned) low opinion of self? Is it possible to be too self-aware?
The Apostle Paul claimed, “...I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time,…” (1st Corinthians 4:3b-5a).
Is it possible that by recucing self-consciousness in my behavior toward others I become more the most self-less and Christ-centered?
To be “conscious of nothing against myself” is not an excuse for sin. Like Paul, “I am not by this acquitted.” But its practice does direct my attention away from relentless introspection which is all about me and, while appearing spiritual on the surface, masks an unhealthy fear of others driving me toward the false and futile goal of perfectionism.
