Tozer on “The Importance of Self-Judgment”
August 11, 2009Right now I’m reading a lot of material authored by A.W. Tozer who seems a bit grumpy at times, but a bit prophetic as well. The following are some excerpts from his book “The Incredible Christian” that talk about the importance of looking inward and discovering (and judging) our true selves.
“Hardly anything else reveals so well the fear and uncertainty among men as the length to which they will go to hide their true selves from each other and even from their own eyes.”
“Self-knowledge is so critically important to us in our pursuit of God and His righteousness that we lie under heavy obligation to do immediately whatever is necessary to remove the disguise and permit our real selves to be known.”
Rules for Self-Discovery (We may be known by the following):
1. What we want most. “Ask your heart: What would you rather have than anything else in the world?”
2. What we think about most. “The true test is what we think about voluntarily.”
3. How we use our money. “We must pay taxes and provide for the necessities of life…, but whatever money is left to do with as we please—that will tell us a great deal indeed.”
4. What we do with our leisure time. “Most people waste [free time] staring at the television, listening to the radio, reading the cheap output of the press or engaging in idle chatter. What I do with mine reveals the kind of man I am.”
5. The company we enjoy. ”Where we go, when we are free to go where we will, is a near-infallible index of character.”
6. Whom and what we admire. “We can learn the true state of our minds by examining our unexpressed admirations.”
7. What we laugh at. “Lacking a sense of humor we fall that much short of healthy humanity. But the test we are running here is not whether we laugh or not, but what we laugh at.”
Warren W. Wiersbe (ed.), The Best of A.W. Tozer, Book One, (Camp Hill, PA: Baker Book House Co., 1978), pp. 109-111.
I love his stuff…but it stretches me. Sometimes it’s pretty tough on me.