Self-deception enables those who are nothing to think they are something. -- Galatians 6:3
First, I have lots and lots of belief.
Second, I believe that some of my beliefs are false.
We have been wrong many times. Moreover, there are many beliefs we haven’t so much considered them for ages. So there are false beliefs swimming around in our consciousness somewhere or the other.
Third, It’s fairly likely that I don’t believe all of the things I think I believe. Thus, how do I know that I really believe in the things I think I believe?
This is the question that gives rise to the problem of self-deception. In order to know ourselves, we need to examine our acts. With very few exceptions, no one has any trouble acting out their beliefs. You do act in accordance with your beliefs. More likely, you just don’t believe what you’ve thought of yourself as believing.
Rather than trying to work up behavior consistent with what we think we believe, we should be begging with the man who wanted desperately for Jesus to free his son from the demon that possessed him. “I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24)
Whenever there's a pressure associated with believing something, there's a possibility of self-deception. A mother can’t live with the belief that her child is on drugs. A husband can’t live with the belief that his wife is cheating. Nearer to our situation as Christians, another example could be a convert who can’t live with the belief that he’s going to hell for lack of belief.
from I Told Me So
I am counted as a deceiver if I act for the sake of causing other people to believe something, or to continue to believe something, without regard for the truth. I’m trying to manage others beliefs, but I’m not trying to move others along toward the true belief.
“To be self-deceived is to avoid using rational standards for evidence whenever it suits our purposes.” -- Jean-Paul Sartre
What leads us into self-deception?
Attention management, procrastination, perspective switching, rationalization and ressentiment
How can we break ourselves from self-deception?
I just want to stimulate our thinking, that perhaps we are now in this state of self-deception. The best way to solve this problem, and of course all other problems which we face as human is to return back to our Creator, to return back to our "manual" which is His Words. Anyway what's written here is just a summary of a summary made by a friend of mine. To get a bigger picture, you could read the book, or the summary linked below :)
from I Told Me So
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