“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” 2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV.
Reflection: are you looking honestly at yourself? do you see what others see?
The awareness of self is a big topic within psychology. It sounds kind of simple, right? And if asked the question, “Are you aware of yourself?”, we would all quickly respond, “Of course, I am aware of myself!” And it is perhaps a bit silly of a question on the surface, as self-awareness is one of those abilities that even scientists agree separates humans from animals. But when you dig a bit deeper, you start understanding why this is such a favorite topic for psychologists and behavioral scientists. Because, there is a huge degree of variance here. Generally speaking, “Self-awareness is the ability to see and understand yourself clearly and objectively, your thoughts, emotions & behaviors, through reflection and introspection”. It might seem like a very selfish, self centered area of study. But, interestingly, it is quite the opposite.
Without the “awareness” part of self awareness, we are only left with “self”.
And, without awareness of self, we are also not aware of ourselves around others, or how our actions affect others. In other words, we cannot have empathy without self awareness. And we can easily see this level of self awareness in practice. Take the example of communication, where some people say hurtful things, not seeming to understand the impact of their words on others, while others are highly aware, can listen and communicate effectively. People you think of or consider as “good listeners” have therefore higher empathy because they have the ability to engage with us, in our situation. Ok, so where am I going with all of this? Besides being fascinated by behavioral science myself, did you notice that Paul mentioned self awareness in our focus verse today? In fact, the Bible is full of self awareness guidance and tools. Because it is only in our realization of self, of our own situation, we understand the need for a Savior. As we have come to the end of the second letter to the Corinthians, we see Paul summarizing by saying,
“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.
Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” 2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV. Paul is asking the Corinthians, but so relevant to each of us, to really examine ourselves, to understand whether we are “in the faith”, or just fooling ourselves. He even is calling for them, and us, to test ourselves. So how do we do that? In principle, we check the alignment between what we say is in our inner self, and what is actually there (the proof will be in our actions). We can easily say we believe in something, but our actions may prove otherwise.
I recommend to start with some honest self reflection, some quiet time with the Lord, to examine who you really are; your inner self. To be honest about what you truly believe, and what you struggle with considering your actions. It can be scary to spend time alone, in quiet, just you and God. It certainly is humbling to truly face your inner self in the presence of a holy God. But it is necessary. Then ask loved ones around you who can give you their honest and truthful feedback. Are what they see in your words and actions aligned with how you see yourself?
And finally, as a follower of Jesus, Paul is asking us the question to raise our spiritual self awareness, “do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” We can therefore echo with Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 ESV. Hallelujah!