Defining Self-Deception
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To experience God’s best, it’s important not to live in deception. This especially applies to us because believing the wrong thing causes us to deceive ourselves. Operating too long in deception can harden our hearts and lead us to believe a lie. We’re all susceptible to this; God therefore wants to work with us to help us stop fooling ourselves. Studying God’s Word concerning this keeps us from falling into this trap.
Released on 24 Feb 2026
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The Origin of Self-Deception
The most dangerous thing about self-deception is that when we’re operating in it, we don’t even know that we’re being deceived. Failing to be true to what we believe is right causes us to rationalize and make excuses. Being true to our sense of what the right thing is relieves us from having to explain our actions; if we’re false to our belief, then our excuses make the wrong thing that we’re doing appear right.
The Origin of Self-Deception
The most dangerous thing about self-deception is that when we’re operating in it, we don’t even know that we’re being deceived. Failing to be true to what we believe is right causes us to rationalize and make excuses. Being true to our sense of what the right thing is relieves us from having to explain our actions; if we’re false to our belief, then our excuses make the wrong thing that we’re doing appear right.
The Origin of Self-Deception (Part 2)
God has great plans for our lives, but those plans are blocked when we deceive ourselves. Deceiving ourselves makes us spiritually blind to the truth of a situation; this is something God wants to deliver us from. What was true under the law may no longer be true under grace; we fool ourselves when we think we must live by an outdated covenant. The lies we believe about ourselves neutralize us.
