God created us with the ability to know ourselves. That knowledge comes first by “contemplating the face of God.” But this contemplation does not come from morbid introspectionism for we are easily self-deceived. We would rather point out the character flaws of others than to insist on our own need to change. And we may think that we know ourselves fairly well until we are confronted by someone else. That friend or family member may reveal something that was before unknown to us; that knowledge was not hidden, but we kept it hidden by telling ourselves again and again that such idea is absurd. These self-knowledge revivals, what we might call the “aha” moments, occur in the face of a loving community. It cannot occur in isolation from community. Isolation provides seeds for further self-deception. In summary, we cannot know ourselves outside of God and His created society.
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