Sometimes, we Christians are our own worst enemy. We do things we ought not to do, convince ourselves of something we shouldn't believe in, and try to talk ourselves out of a mess we've put ourselves in, as if doing that would work. When we do these things, we make fools out of ourselves.
Friends, we as God's people ought to walk in the ways of wisdom, not in the ways of foolishness. The Bible tells us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. If that's true, then the opposite is also true: a lack of fear of God is the beginning of foolishness.
That might sound difficult to accept, but that's true. If we don't fear God, we will end up fooling ourselves.
When we fool ourselves
As God's people, we ought to be walking in His ways, in the ways of wisdom, who "calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares" (see Proverbs 1:20). God's wisdom is seen everywhere: we see it in how the trees are designed, in how the seas are limited to the shores, in how a bird flies in the sky, in how the earth is separated from the sun, in how unique a person is.
God's wisdom is easily available to us as well. James 1:5 tells us that
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him."
God has an abundant supply of wisdom that is made available for us in Christ. Yet, many of us continue to play the fool, doing things that we later regret, the things that displease God.
How we fool ourselves
But, you may ask, how do we fool ourselves? The Bible gives us many ways how, and for this article we'll talk about a few of them. Here they are.
1) When we refuse to obey the word of God
Many people think that because they go to church and tweet what the pastor preached from the pulpit, they're growing wise. Well, the Bible says that isn't enough. James 1:22-24 tells us,
"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was."
2) When we think of ourselves too highly
When we think too highly of ourselves, we will likely fool ourselves. Romans 12:3 tells us,
"For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith."
When we exalt ourselves in our own eyes, we set ourselves us for a lot of hurt. Proverbs 16:18 then warns us,
"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."
3) When we are self-righteous
Self-righteousness is always a key to fooling ourselves. We see all the wrongs and the flaws of others, while ignoring the fatal cracks and deadly errors we have. The Lord Jesus spoke clearly about this:
"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:3-5)
We can't keep on focusing on the imperfections of others and expect that we're perfect ourselves. This is a foolish thing to do.
