“Self-awareness is the first thing that will upset the completeness of our life in God, and self-awareness continually produces a sense of struggling and turmoil in our lives. Self-awareness is not sin, and it can be produced by nervous emotions or by suddenly being dropped into a totally new set of circumstances. Yet it is never God’s will that we should be anything less than absolutely complete in Him. If we will come to Him, asking Him to produce Christ-awareness in us, He will always do it, until we fully learn to abide in Him.”
Oswald Chambers from My Utmost for His Highest
We can’t abide in Christ, or be full of Christ, if we are full of ourselves. Self-awareness, for me, has been a plague of the soul. I have to be intentional to not constantly criticize myself or get down on myself because of mistakes, past or present. I have to choose to fix my eyes on Christ. It’s hard. It’s a battle.
This quote from Oswald Chambers really gave me hope. To ASK God to make me more CHRIST aware and not so self aware — that is where I want to spend my prayers. To not be so focused on myself and my own needs that I can look around and see Christ in everything and everyone. To not see my own inadequacy, but the adequacy of Christ. YES, Lord, may it be so!
“Abiding in Christ is just meant for the weak, and so beautifully suited to their feebleness. It is not the doing of some great thing and does not demand that we first lead a holy and devoted life. No, it is simply weakness entrusting itself to a Mighty One to be kept—the unfaithful one casting self on One who is altogether trustworthy and true. Abiding in Him is not a work that we have to do as the condition for enjoying His salvation, but a consenting to let Him do all for us, and in us, and through us. It is a work He does for us: the fruit and the power of His redeeming love. Our part is simply to yield, to trust, and to wait for what He has engaged to perform.”Andrew Murray from Andrew Murray on Prayer
Don’t you love that? Abiding is for the weak, the feeble…you and I. We are desperate for Christ. Abiding doesn’t only come to those who have walked with Christ for a lifetime or studied theology in a seminary. Abiding in Christ isn’t just for the mature in faith or the teachers of the Word. Abiding in Christ is for all of us. We are all desperate and needy and must surrender to His work in our lives. His abiding.
I love looking at Scriptures in various versions, and John 15 is a beautiful passage about abiding in Christ. In the Message version, John 15:4 tells us to make our HOME in Christ, as He makes His home in us.
Isn’t that beautiful? Isn’t that what we want for our lives? To live in Christ and for Him to live in us. We are a home for Christ, a dwelling, and we dwell in Him all at the same time. Oh the beauty of the mystery of Christ. The more we abide in Him, the more He abides in us.
What does it look like to abide? How do you abide in Christ?
I don’t pretend to have all the answers, and I would love to discuss abiding in the comments with you!
How do I abide in Christ? For me, it’s time and intentionality. I spend time with Him. In His Word, in prayer, in worship. But it also is an intentional focus on Christ even when I am not sitting with His Word on my lap. And that, for me, is the hardest part. Taking my eyes OFF of myself (self-awareness) and placing them onto Christ (Christ-awareness.)
Let’s make it our prayer, as Oswald Chambers encouraged us to do, asking Him to give us a Christ-awareness.
Thank you for this lovely reminder. I join you in praying with you for God to make me Christ-aware and less self-aware. Thank you.
Thank you for this post! I’m going to be attending a Bible study this fall that is themed “Abiding in Christ.” I’m really looking forward to it. The visual picture that comes to my mind when I think about abiding in Christ is sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening, trusting and worshiping Him. Again, thanks for pointing my eyes to Jesus!
“We can’t abide in Christ, or be full of Christ, if we are full of ourselves”! Great statement! I came here after reading Oswald’s August 20 devo in Utmost. I see self-awareness as a strength to our obedience and sanctification process, but satan surely attempts to destroy and distract me by getting me to think of myself too much or incorrectly. I pray our self-awareness drives us to Christ in humility that we desperately need Him and ultimately die to self.