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Finding the Freedom to be Self Aware

Michael Touchton
Aug 27, 2017 · 3 min read

Change always requires that we first become aware of ourselves.

When I say ‘self aware’ I’m referring to a person’s ability to truly see themselves as they are. Often other people can see things, or pick up on things, in us that we’re not yet able to see.

What keeps us from being able to see these things?

For one thing, fear —the fear of being condemned, the fear of losing our sense of significance, and the fear that if we become self-aware, the other person will never see the speck in their own eye.

We’re complicated — so maybe for you it’s none of these. Maybe it’s something else.

About the speck in the person’s eye: Jesus talks about when that’s appropriate and sometimes it takes some time. But waiting is not always a big deal because the person with a speck in their eye can’t see something that they don’t believe is there.

Change always requires that we first become aware of ourselves.

It’s very difficult to move from being overly concerned with the actions, attitudes, and abilities of others, to being primarily concerned with the state of your own heart.

Becoming self aware begins with finding the freedom to be real with yourself.

How do you find the freedom to be real with yourself?

For one thing, trust. Trust that, if you’re following the way of Jesus, he says that your actual identity is new and that anything negative or bad or broken in your life (we all have more of these things than we are presently aware of) is not in your new identity, it’s in what the bible calls your ‘flesh’ — or that part of you that is void of God and life.

So, you’re becoming real and aware of this part of yourself, this pseudo identity, and the way it affects God and the people around you — and everyone has it. Many of us are just scared to become aware of it.

It’s hard to be real with yourself when you feel like your reputation is all you have — even when it’s just your version of your reputation that you keep for yourself.

Becoming self aware will bring you the opportunity to change everything that you become aware of.

Who knows? As you become self aware, maybe the fresh water coming from your heart will even wash the specks out of a whole bunch of eyeballs.

I don’t know what I don’t know either. I’m on the journey too.

P.S. There’s an ocean of difference between being self aware and condemning yourself. They’re not the same at all.


Hi, I’m Michael and this is my daily project where I write about diverse ideas.

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A Daily Dose

A Daily Project Where I Write About Diverse Ideas

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Michael Touchton

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From a crowded island in the middle of a river, I write about life, faith, and anything else. Follow along: https://medium.com/a-daily-dose

A Daily Dose

A Daily Project Where I Write About Diverse Ideas

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