|
by Paul Negrete From Self-Awareness to Christ-Awareness When speaking of emotional intelligence self-awareness is key. Here are three definitions of self-awareness. 1) “Self-awareness involves monitoring our stress, thoughts, emotions, and beliefs.” 2) “Self-awareness is the ability to see yourself clearly and objectively through reflection and introspection.” And finally, 3) “If you're self-aware, you always know how you feel, and you know how your emotions and your actions can affect the people around you.” Self-awareness can be seen as a kind of “emotional proprioception” - understanding where you are emotionally and physically in relation to the world around you. Life moves at such a rapid pace. Things change from moment to moment. It can be easy for us to lose our bearings from time to time. Stress and anxiety often hide undetected beneath the surface of a mindset that everything is under control; suddenly coming to light in the least expected moment and by the slightest of provocations. Another difficult emotional challenge can be understanding how some of our normal behaviors are unintentionally being misinterpreted causing others distress. Self-awareness, then, is the ability to take a personal inventory, to understand the state of our person in relation to the environmental, social, emotional, and spiritual stimulus that is impacting our lives, and to further understand how we, in turn, are affecting others.  Self-awareness is a trait that is often found in people who exhibit qualities personified in transformative leadership models. Relational success can be directly linked with the ability to be self-aware. The difficulty lies in the fact that we are often overwhelmed with information that may be difficult to disaggregate and that is obscured by an individual’s personal perception. We may simply lack sufficient pieces of key details to be able to derive true understanding at the moment. To say that we should be self-aware is one thing, to practice it at all times is a completely different problem. Practices such as mindfulness attempt to tackle the difficulties found in addressing the need for self-awareness. “Mindfulness is… [a] systematic mental training that develops meta-awareness (self-awareness), an ability to effectively modulate one's behavior (self-regulation), and a positive relationship between self and other that transcends self-focused needs and increases prosocial characteristics (self-transcendence).” The theory of mindfulness is rooted in Zen Buddhism. Secular practitioners of this philosophy will use eastern meditation exercises that are focused on seeking “inner truth” or “stillness” through relaxation and breath training to enhance the state of mindfulness. In the United States, the practice of mindfulness was introduced in 1979 by Jon Kabit-Zinn in an effort to aid clinical patients with pain and stress management. As Christians, we are called to be mindful, or self-aware, in a way that is uniquely distinctive. Peter was pointedly admonished by Jesus for not being “mindful” of the things of God. Later Peter would write warning believers to be, “...mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior…,” in the hope that we would not become negligent in looking for the return of Jesus. The call of many of the Biblical writers was to be aware of the attacks of Satan to lure us away from our hope in Jesus. The Bible is clear that we as humans will never be of ourselves fully self-aware. In the last of the seven churches of Revelation Jesus warns the people that they are unaware of their true spiritual condition stating, “...you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked….” The Psalmist asks God to help reveal the true condition of the heart. The Bible goes on to further share with us that most often what we need to be aware of, that which impacts us the most, has to do with a reality that can only be disclosed through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. One of the key aspects of the ministry of Jesus is to reveal the truth of our hearts. Essentially, for the Christian, the path towards self-awareness is actually a journey to Christ-awareness. The more we seek to know Jesus the more He reveals our true nature, our spiritual condition, and the purpose He has for our lives. When we seek to know ourselves through our own eyes, we may miss the greater understanding of the fullness of our identity in Christ. Regardless of whether or not our self-awareness is strong or weak, apart from God it will always be painfully incomplete and lacking in fulfillment in comparison to what it could be in Him. There is a God who can reveal even the secret things of ourselves and of the human condition. We should ask the Holy Spirit to help us to understand the mind of Jesus through the plan of redemption. It is in this effort that God can reveal the true-self to us.  It is inevitable that there will be times when life becomes overwhelming. As much as we may try to keep everything straight and to be aware of all of our thoughts, feelings, and how we are impacting others, we are limited. We need help. My prayer is that in whatever condition or situation we may find ourselves, that we may always have the presence of mind to call out as David did, “Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” The greatest awareness you can ever attain is not of yourself but rather of God’s love for you. The more we seek Christ and desire to know Him, His gift to us in return is to reveal the most extraordinary truth about ourselves - our beginning, our present, our end, and our eternal destiny.
Bibliography 1https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/click-here-happiness/201903/what-is-self-awareness-and-how-do-you-get-it 2https://positivepsychology.com/self-awareness-matters-how-you-can-be-more-self-aware/ 3https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_45.htm 4https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00296/full 5https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/oct/22/mindfulness-jon-kabat-zinn-depression-trump-grenfell 6 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1093/clipsy.bpg016 7 Matthew 16:23; Mark 8:33 (NKJV) 8 2 Peter 3:1-9 (NKJV) 9 1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV) 10 Jeremiah 17:9 (NKJV) 11 Revelation 3:17 (NKJV) 12 Psalm 139:23-24 (NKJV) 13 Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV) 14 Luke 2:34-35 (NKJV) 15 Matthew 6:33; Jeremiah 29:11; 1 Peter 1:29; John 16:7-15 (NKJV) 16 Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV) 17 Daniel 2:19-23 (NKJV) 18 Phillipians 2:5-11 (NKJV) 19 Psalm 61:1-2 (NKJV) 20 Ephesians 3:14-21 (NKJV)
0 Comments
by Andrew Carpenter Stephen Duneier’s list of life accomplishments is quite impressive. After graduating from New York University Stern School of Business, one of the top financial programs in the world, he has been an Exotics Derivative trader, the Currency Options Manager for Bank of America, the Global Head of Emerging Markets for AIG International, and the founder and CIO of two award-winning global hedge funds. These accomplishments are just a summary of his professional career. Duneier has also taught himself German, acquired auto racing licenses, became an aerobatics helicopter pilot, marathon runner, world-renowned yarnbomber, and a Guinness World Record holder for crocheting the world’s largest granny square.  It is tempting to look at the list of accomplishments in Duneir’s life and conclude that he possesses some sort of special talent or character trait that has helped him to become so successful. The truth of the matter is that Duneier possesses no such talent or trait. From Kindergarten until his second year in college, Duneier was, at best, a C- student. What changed was that he decided to take a look at his self-management habits. By making small tweaks to his decision-making process, he was able to increase his margin for success. Instead of not studying at all, he decided to read small portions at a time of an assigned reading and to take breaks in between. Little by little, small decisions in his self-management process began to produce large results. From that time forward, he became a straight A student. He then decided to apply this theory to other areas of his life. Duneier realized that a marginal improvement in self-management and decision making would make a dramatic difference in the outcomes of life. For instance, Duneier had an hour and a half round-trip walk to work every day. During his walk, he would listen to music on his iPod. One day he decided that he wanted to be more efficient with his time, so he stopped and bought a German-language CD set and downloaded it to his iPod. He soon realized that he wasn’t disciplined enough, so he removed all the music and left just the German language learning set on his playlist. Within a few months, he was able to have conversations in German while vacationing with his family in Germany.  To this day, Duneier will tell you that he is still the same undisciplined C- student with no special talent. The difference in his life was the change in his self-management, taking large tasks and breaking them down into small decisions that would increase his odds of success. Self-management can also be described as self-control or self-regulation. Simply put, self-management is the ability to manage one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively. Many times we think of self-management or self-control as the ability to keep ourselves away from all of the things that are bad for us. What is powerful in Duneier’s story is that it wasn’t his ability to say no or a special character trait that made the difference; it was his thoughtful approach to taking large tasks and breaking them down into small decisions to increase his odds of success. His self-management wasn’t magical, it was practical.  A Biblical example of practical self-management would be Joseph. Frequently people look at Bible characters as people who possessed magical abilities to become successful. However, Joseph was not successful because he possessed magical power, but because he decided to apply good decision-making principles to his self-management practice. Joseph experienced the trauma of being sold into slavery, he was unjustly accused of sexual assault, and he was thrown into prison and forgotten by those who made promises to help free him. Yet, these experiences taught Joseph to be the great leader he was. He learned humility as a slave, business management as the head of Potiphar’s household, and people management skills while managing a prison full of criminals. Despite the awful circumstances of his life, his self-management practice allowed him to find success and eventually see that what his brothers meant for evil, God meant for good. As life presents circumstances that seem overwhelming and too big to overcome, take the time to evaluate your self-management process, identify the small decisions that will help increase your chances for success, and remember the stories of hope that can help give us strength. If you would like to learn more about Stephen Duneier and how he changed his life, you can watch his Tedx Talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQMbvJNRpLE by Alyssa Cheung In Matthew 4: 1-11, we read of Jesus being tested in the wilderness. After fasting for 40 days and nights, Satan presented 3 temptations to Jesus. In the first temptation, Satan tells Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Here, Jesus’ hunger is being targeted. He responds to the tempter by saying, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” In this moment, Jesus clings to the promises of God. He waits on God’s provisions and forgoes a quick fix to His hunger. Throughout the Bible, the wilderness represents a place of preparation and waiting on God. It’s a place to learn to have self-control, patience, and trust in God’s mercy.  In the second temptation, Jesus is taken to the highest point of the temple and is told, “If you are the Son of god, throw yourself down...for angels will catch you.” Jesus responds with, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” He refuses to take advantage of His relationship with God. In the last temptation, Satan promises splendor and glory if Jesus bows down and worships him. In verse 10, Jesus tells Satan, “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” Throughout these temptations, Satan begins each test with “IF you are the Son of God…”. In all 3 temptations, Satan is targeting Jesus’ identity. He is trying to get the Son of God to doubt who He is, but we see Jesus practicing self-control and biblical self-talk by clinging to God’s word. He knew He was the Son of God. The question that Satan presented was what kind of Son of God Jesus would be. Jesus knew His calling and at that moment He needed to decide how He would live to that call. Implementation of God’s call can be hard in our lives and it is at these moments where self control matters the most.  In comparing the temptations presented in Genesis and Matthew, we see parallels of how man faced temptation and how Jesus faced temptation. Genesis 3:5-6 tells of how Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. The serpent claimed that eating of the fruit would open the woman’s eyes and make her like God. Where man first failed, Jesus first conquered. So in moments where you feel your own willpower and self-control being tempted, cling to the example of Jesus. He was tempted and overcame those temptations to provide an example for us. He paved the way to allow us to overcome temptation as well. In Matthew 28:20, we are reminded of the promise that Jesus is “...with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus has already gone ahead of His followers, where He has faced the most challenging tests in the most difficult places. There is no test or temptation so great that Jesus has not already overcome. As you walk and remain close to God, there is no temptation so great that He won’t help you overcome.
By Alyssa Cheung Last week we discussed the importance of self-talk. This week’s devotional will focus on exactly how one can improve one’s self-talk, moreso how to adopt a biblical self-talk. In thinking about biblical self-talk, I am reminded of David in Psalm 42. In verse 5, David is reflecting on why his soul is downcast and disturbed, but he pours his hope in God and tells his soul to praise Him. We see again in Psalm 103 that David is commanding his soul, all of his inmost being, to praise God and not forget His benefits. To list a few, David writes that God forgives all sins, heals all diseases, redeems life from the pit, and provides love and compassion. David’s list continues throughout the entire chapter of all the good that God provides and reiterates over and over to praise the Lord. What I love about this chapter is that David begins and ends it the same way, “Praise the Lord, my soul”. This is what biblical self-talk is about, a self-controlled conversation within the soul that wills it to praise God in even the darkest times; to focus on the glory of God when all we want to do is self-talk ourselves deeper into anguish. Colossians 3:2 states “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” while Romans 12:2 says “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. Therefore, when you find yourself, your mind, wandering into the spiral of negative self-talk, refocus your thinking to biblical self-talk and focus your mind on the wonders and glory of God.  Psalm 103:8-12
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him, as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. 1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do (and self-talk), do all to the glory of God. |