Self-Justification: The Danger of Feeling Right While Being Wrong
DEVOTION • “The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God” (John 16:2).
Read time: 2 min
Feeling we are ‘in the right’ does not make our actions righteous. It’s often in moments of such self-assuredness that we’re most vulnerable to sinning against God, others, and ourselves.
When Murder Feels Right
In John chapter sixteen, Jesus prepared his disciples for the persecution they would face after his departure. He warned that a time would come when people would be moved even to murder while feeling that they were actually serving God! This prophecy shed insight not only on his apostles’ future but on the universal problem of spiritual blindness.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Proverbs 14:12).
Relying on subjective feelings to guide us is absurdly unreliable and leads astray. What feels right in the moment may bring our destruction. We desperately need something greater and truer than our emotions and carnal wisdom—a sure and unwavering voice of truth. God's authoritative Word provides the guidance we need to walk in his ways.
A Self-Check
Gossip feels like innocent venting but spreads poison.
Lust feels like pleasure but brings pain.
Envy feels gratifying but fuels discontentment.
Impatience feels constructive but sows chaos.
Sloth feels restful but wastes potential.
Cowardice feels safe but shrinks the soul.
Revenge feels healing but inflicts wounds.
Self-pity feels comforting but steals joy.
Do you need to submit any attitudes and actions to God’s objective truth?
It’s imperative that we live surrendered to God’s Word and not to our fickle feelings. May his Word be the lamp that lights our path and protects us from the blinding glare of self-justification.
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Heavenly Father, guard my heart from trusting in my own feelings and judgments. Lead me by the truth of your Word, and help me walk in humility and obedience to you. Keep me from the danger of self-justification, and draw me deeper into reliance on your unchanging truth. Amen. ❖
