15. Knowledge of God and knowledge of self are interdependent.
(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.)
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT YOURSELF THAT HAS LED TO A DEEPENING IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD?
AS YOU HAVE GROWN IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, ARE THERE TIMES WHEN GOD, SPIRIT, OR JESUS HAS SHOWN YOU THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF?
Augustine is reported to have prayed, “Grant, Lord, that I may know myself that I may know Thee.” Considered by many to be the most significant Christian theologian after the Apostle Paul, this wise saint teaches us that self-awareness is not just something we pursue for our own emotional health; it is essential for enjoying a meaningful relationship with God. But we also know that a meaningful relationship with God assists our knowledge of self.
Together, these two truths create a symbiotic relationship, in which this knowledge of self and knowledge of God work mutually to strengthen each other. This might be what Paul is teaching us in Ephesians 3:16-19: I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Paul prays that we may be “strengthened with power in our inner being.”
A strong inner being/mind is one that is self-aware. As this happens, “Christ dwells in us,” we grow to know Him better. And as Jesus lives within us, we are “rooted and grounded in love.” Again, someone “rooted and grounded in love” has a developing quality of self-awareness. As this quality develops, we are able to grasp and understand “how wide, long, high and deep is the love of Christ,” in other words, we gain a deeper knowledge of Christ and God. All this results in us being “filled to measure of all fullness,” which again is speaking about a growing interior quality, one that is more self-aware.
At the core of this back-and-forth of knowledge is a growing quality of experiential knowing: the knowing of self and the knowing of God. As we come to know ourselves better, it will lead to an increase in our ability to know God, and as we experience a deeper relationship with God, it leads to a greater self-awareness.