Barbra Gentry-Pugh

Don’t Be So Quick to Think You Know Yourself

April 26, 2026

^“I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So, I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.” Romans 7:15-17 (NLT)

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT)

Have you ever said, “That’s just who I am,” and never questioned it? We often believe we know ourselves, our motives, our reactions, our intentions, even our level of healing, but the truth is, self-perception without God can be dangerously incomplete. The Word of God reminds us that our hearts can be deceptive, and what we think is settled may still be hidden beneath the surface.

There was a time in my life when I felt I had been hurt unjustly, and I truly believed I had forgiven the person who had hurt me deeply. In my mind, it was settled. I had prayed, I had released it, or so I thought. But when I saw that person for the first time after the offense, something unexpected happened. My emotions rose in a way that surprised me. Feelings I thought were gone were still there, hidden beneath the surface.

In that moment, I was reminded of the struggle the Apostle Paul described in the 7th chapter of Romans, of doing what we didn’t expect and feeling what we thought we had overcome. That encounter revealed something deeper: I had addressed it intellectually but not completely surrendered it in my heart.

“What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So, if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary.
But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help!” Romans 7:15-17 (MSG)

Don’t Be So Quick to Think You Know Yourself!

Right there, I had a choice. Instead of justifying my feelings or revisiting the pain, I surrendered it fully to God. I allowed Him to deal with the root of my hurt so that true healing could take place. And I knew I was healed, not because I said I was, but because my response to the hurt changed. When I encountered that person again, there was no anger, no bitterness, no internal cry of “woe is me” or “I didn’t deserve that.” God had not just helped me cope with the hurt; He had truly healed my heart. I had His peace!

We often believe we understand our motives, our reactions, and even our hearts. But God’s Word gently corrects that assumption. HIS Word makes it clear: the heart can be deceptive. That means we can misread ourselves, calling something harmless that is actually harmful, or normal, that God is trying to transform! In Jeremiah 17:9, we are told: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” This means that our inner world, our thoughts, motives, and desires, can mislead us. We may justify wrong attitudes, overlook hidden wounds, or misinterpret why we do what we do. What feels right is not always aligned with God’s truth.

That’s why self-awareness must be Spirit-led, not self-defined. David understood this when he prayed in Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”

He didn’t rely on his own perception; he invited God to reveal what he could not see. Even the New Testament warns us in 1 Corinthians 4:4: “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.”

In other words, feeling right is not the same as being right.

BIBLICAL INSIGHT: True self-understanding comes when we allow God’s Word and the Holy Spirit to examine us. Without that, we risk:

Calling wounds “strength.”
Calling pride “confidence.”
Calling fear “wisdom.”
Calling disobedience “just how I am.”

But when we surrender to God’s examination, He reveals not to condemn, but to heal, restore, and transform.

HEART EXAMINATION: Have I labeled something “just who I am” that God may want to change?

Am I attempting to treat a wound of bitterness that never heals

Where do I become defensive instead of reflective?

Am I allowing God to search me, or am I relying on my own understanding?

Have I taken the unforgiveness?

HEART CHALLENGE: Invite God into your self-awareness. Instead of saying, “This is just who I am,” begin to pray: “Lord, show me who I really am, and who You created me to be.” “Lord, search me, not to expose me, but to heal me. Show me what I cannot see, and transform what I cannot change on my own.”

You don’t truly know yourself until you allow the One who created you to reveal you. Because God doesn’t just show you who you are, He shows you who you can become.

STANDING ORDERS (His Word) FROM THE GREAT PHYSICIAN:

Spiritual Self-Assessment

Diagnosis: Limited self-awareness can lead to spiritual blind spots.

Soul Diagnosis: “Misdiagnosed Self-Awareness”

Condition: Misdiagnosed Self-Awareness (Believing you fully understand your heart without God’s examination)

Symptoms:

“This is just how I am” mindset
Defensiveness when corrected
Repeating the same emotional patterns
Justifying attitudes instead of surrendering them
Blind spots in relationships and reactions

ROOT ISSUE (Heart Level): A heart not fully surrendered to God’s truth can misinterpret itself.

Jeremiah 17:9: “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? (NLT)

Spiritual Insight: You cannot heal what you cannot see. And you cannot fully see yourself without God.

Divine Prescription: Primary Order:
Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (NLT)

Secondary Support:

Hebrews 4:12. The Word exposes the true thoughts and intentions of the heart. “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

TREATMENT PLAN:

Invite God daily into your self-examination
Replace self-justification with surrender
Allow Scripture to correct, not just comfort
Journal what God reveals, and act on it

EXPECTED PROGNOSIS/OUTCOME:

Greater self-awareness rooted in truth
Emotional and spiritual healing
Freedom from hidden patterns
Alignment with God’s design for your life

STANDING ORDER: Stop saying, “This is just who I am.” Start praying, “Lord, show me who I am, and transform me from the inside out.”

LET’S PRAY : Father God, thank You for Your authoritative, inerrant, and inspired Word, which gives us clear instructions on how You see every part of our hearts, the parts we understand, and the parts we don’t. Father search us and reveal anything in us that is hidden, unresolved, or unhealed. Where we have called ourselves healed but still carry pain, touch that place. Help us not to defend what You are trying to transform. Give us the courage to surrender fully, and the grace to walk in true forgiveness. Heal us, Father, from the inside out, so that our responses reflect Your peace, not our past, in the Precious, Powerful, and Preeminent Name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.  