History Books in 90 Days: 2 Chronicles 32-34
Leviticus 19:18b (ESV); ...but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the LORD.
We need to be aware of ourselves, not in a self-conscious or selfish way, but in a conscientious
way. It is important to be aware of the way we act in different situations and around different people.
If we are selfishly aware of ourselves we will be unaware of others and their needs. We may walk
past someone without acknowledging them, or blow off conversation because we’re too absorbed
with our tasks. If we are self-consciously aware of ourselves, we will assume that everyone else is
also aware of us and we will naturally draw into ourselves, feeding off of our fear and insecurity.
It might be surprising to know the number of people we offend in a week because we are unaware
of how we’ve come across. Of course, if someone is offended, the sin of offense is their own, but
we are not off the hook if we have failed to love our neighbours.
We need to be aware of ourselves if we want to effectively live out Jesus’ second commandment.
Self-awareness requires us to admit our weaknesses and insecurities and to challenge
ourselves on strengthening those areas. It requires us to be aware of our surroundings and the
people therein. Above all, we must be aware of God as we go through our day. This is where
communicative relationship with Jesus is so important. We need to be aware of the Holy Spirit’s
voice in our life, because if we are really listening to Him, we will notice the nudges He gives us
towards loving our neighbours.
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Ask God to speak to you about self-awareness. Are you selfishly absorbed with yourself?
Are you self-consciously aware of yourself? What kinds of surroundings cause you to be
negatively self-aware? Ask God how this may be affecting your testimony.
2. Ask God how He wants you to work on self-awareness this week.
3. Do you find yourself communicating with God often throughout your day? Do you sense the
Holy Spirit nudging you to do different things? Ask God to increase your awareness of Him
and to increase your ability to hear Him. And continue to make listening prayer a regular part
of your devotional life so that you can grow in hearing.
