Step 5 Devotional: Pruning Out Self-Deception

Faith icon

We have all heard the expression, “What you sow is what you reap”.

We’re often ignorant to the wrongs that we bury but sprout up later in our life, bearing sour fruit.

We all want to be the hero in our story, and at times, in someone else’s story. But no one’s perfect. That’s a sentiment that most people can quickly nod their head to in agreement. However, when we’re faced with owning up to our flaws, mistakes, and sometimes outright awful actions, we suddenly lose our adherence to that sentiment. Why? Do we suddenly think we are perfect? I don’t think that’s it. I think we all wrongfully attach what we do to who we are. If we admit that we did that thing or hurt that person, then we have to admit that we’re awful to our core, right?

What if the opposite is actually true? We fool ourselves when we think that we can just deny and bury our bad deeds in the dirt. Eventually, we all discover that those deeds that we thought were buried for good are actually seeds. What’s worse is that they often burst forth from the dirt, grow, and bear fruit that is sour to the taste. We all have to deal with the crop of consequences that we have let grow in ignorance and face the fact that self-deception just doesn’t work. We have to prune out the self-deception inside of us.

Published

07/07/2022

Category

Faith

Author

Ty Walker

Step 5 of Recovery

We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

Step Five effectively says goodbye to self-deception. And in its place, grace and forgiveness are given. While God offers forgiveness from every wrong, we are still not exempt from wrongdoing in general. We will still all fall short and continually need to admit where we failed. But the important part is managed. The dirt is dug up and the fruit of self-deception is pruned out. An incredible weight is lifted off of us that we got so used to carrying. And each time we admit to our flaws, mistakes, and bad deeds, it gets easier.

Admitting our wrongs includes giving an account in exact and specific terms. This is more for us than we think it might be for others. The more specific we are about our bad deeds, the less likely we’ll be to fool ourselves in the future. The more specific we are about our actions the more we’ll learn and understand about the nature and reasoning behind them. On the surface, you might lash out in anger when your friends or family are frustrated with a situation that you can’t fix. But when you look deeper, it could be because you grew up feeling like you were responsible for everyone’s hurt.

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.

Galatians 6:7-8

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

Galatians 6:9-10

Self-deception is like an ogre, it has layers. We deceive ourselves into thinking we’re free from guilt or, at the very least, free from the consequences of our actions. Then, we are usually ignorant to the fact that we’re deceiving ourselves. How ironic, huh? But what’s worse, then we either lie to ourselves or are ignorant to how our wrongs affect God and our relationship with him, whether we think we have one or not. But as we see in Galatians 6, we can’t fool God, only ourselves. That’s why our actions always come back to haunt us, one way or another.

We’ve all heard the common expression, “What you sow is what you reap.” That’s exactly what Paul is saying in his letter to the church of Galatia. We simply cannot sow bad deeds, bury them, forget about them, and expect the fruit of our life to be sweet. But there is hope. When we finally admit that we’ve messed up (not “I am messed up”), God will take the blame, but not necessarily the consequences, away from us. That’s what he’s already done when he sent Jesus to die on the cross a mere 2,000 years ago. So prune out the self-deception in your life and give him the broken branches.

Conclusion

Key takeaways

  • We deceive ourselves about our actions because we think we’ll have to admit that we’re awful at our core
  • If we bury our bad deeds, we find that they’re actually seeds that grow to bear unhealthy fruit
  • Step Five of Recovery says goodbye to self-deception, but we have to continually admit faults
  • The more specific we are, the more we’ll learn why we do them and the less we can deceive ourselves
  • Self-deception has layers: we fool ourselves about our guilt, our own deception, and its effect on God
  • God offers forgiveness and reprieve from guilt when we admit our fault

Challenge

Apply to your life

Take 30 minutes this week to read chapter six of Galations. Meditate and pray on what you read. Read, pray, and meditate while thinking about what we have buried that needs rooting up and pruning. Do your best to not give in to self-deception and say, “I don’t think that’s really a problem.” Most importantly, share everything that comes up with a recovery coach or someone else you feel safe opening up that part of your life with.

Conclusion

Key takeaways

  • We deceive ourselves about our actions because we think we’ll have to admit that we’re awful at our core
  • If we bury our bad deeds, we find that they’re actually seeds that grow to bear unhealthy fruit
  • Step Five of Recovery says goodbye to self-deception, but we have to continually admit faults
  • The more specific we are, the more we’ll learn why we do them and the less we can deceive ourselves
  • Self-deception has layers: we fool ourselves about our guilt, our own deception, and its effect on God
  • God offers forgiveness and reprieve from guilt when we admit our fault

Challenge

Apply to your life

Take 30 minutes this week to read chapter six of Galations. Meditate and pray on what you read. Read, pray, and meditate while thinking about what we have buried that needs rooting up and pruning. Do your best to not give in to self-deception and say, “I don’t think that’s really a problem.” Most importantly, share everything that comes up with a recovery coach or someone else you feel safe opening up that part of your life with.

Ty Walker

Ty Walker is a contract copywriter and graphic designer with a huge heart for recovery. He has spent the last five years serving churches and recovery communities with his creative skills. Ty spends his free time writing poetry and fictional short stories as well as hiking, biking, and kayaking with his wife, Angie, and his two daughters, Winter and Ember.

Credit where credit is due

This article was inspired by The Life Recovery Bible presented by Tyndale Publishing. If you would like to check out additional recovery articles, videos, and podcast episodes, check us out at artisticrecovery.org.

Subscribe

Recovery resources anytime, anywhere.

Subscribe

Recovery resources anytime, anywhere.

Check out some related episodes

Want to read more?

Head back to our library.

We fool ourselves when we think that we can just deny and bury our bad deeds in the dirt. Eventually, we all discover that those deeds that we thought were buried for good are actually seeds. What’s worse is that they often burst forth from the dirt, grow, and bear fruit that is sour to the taste. We all have to deal with the crop of consequences that we have let grow in ignorance and face the fact that self-deception just doesn’t work.

Interested in Recovery Coaching?

Sessions are available via Zoom and are always free of charge.

LET’S TALK