Self-Knowledge – Grace Neko
Self-knowledge is closely related to self-awareness. I will call it a valid understanding of who you are with regards to your self-worth or value. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines self-knowledge as understanding of one's own capabilities, character, feelings or motivations. It is having a clear perception of your personality, including strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, and beliefs.
God is very particular about His children having knowledge. The ability to know who you are is what is referred to as self-knowledge. He is not pleased seeing His people lack the knowledge of who He is and who they are in Him. The lack of knowledge itself has made a lot of people venture into things that they are not meant to venture into. And on a more basic level, some people don’t even know some vital information such as genotype, height, and so on, as it concerns them.
Self-knowledge is an antidote to inferiority complex. When you have an understanding of who you are, you will not feel as though you are nothing without value or unimportant.
Self-knowledge kills mediocrity; those who know who they are never settle for less than they deserve. Self-knowledge helps to strike a balance and helps to discover oneself and the potentials one never thought one had.
Self-knowledge also shifts your thinking pattern i.e. it changes your mindset and helps you to have good judgment or perception about yourself and people.
It helps you keep a better relationship with people.
If you know yourself, you will not be trying to be like somebody else.
Self-knowledge tells us our mental state which is a component of self-concept. I will explain briefly:
Self-concept is divided into three:
By self-knowledge, our self-esteem or self-worth is being built. The pitfalls in life's pursuit will be averted once self-knowledge is applied. The correlation between selfknowledge and any other external component in Mind quest is “Awareness”. This is very key in all that pertains to you and your environment. The well of information you take in (positive or negative) affects your output. Your mind first of all interprets and the inability to filter the different information thereby sticking with the positive can cause the negative to have a domineering effect.
Self-knowledge can be obtained by consciously assessing visible information about yourself. For example, your weight, height etc. I added 'consciously' here ‘because many times, the information is there but you are not conscious of it or your mind has not conceived such information. A continual check on yourself can help you obtain self-knowledge.
Never try to compare yourself with others as it can result to having the wrong feeling(s).
The best place or way to look when it comes to knowing 'you' is your heart. This is also called introspection. It takes the right thoughts and attitudes to know who you are.
The visible information you receive is interpreted in your mind and stored up in your heart. Scripture says guard your heart, and you should really guard your heart as if that’s the only treasure you have on earth because any information you digest either sends the right or wrong signal.
In conclusion, God is interested in His children being knowledgeable and He desires that you have good understanding of who you are. Know about yourself - physically, spiritually, and emotionally and character wise (proverbs 10:14, 12:1, 13:16).
Physically, you know what your body needs and don’t need.
Spiritually, you know what you believe in, you know your values.
Emotionally, you understand your emotions and how to control it.
Character wise, you have knowledge of the right character or attitude to emulate or imbibe.
It takes discipline to embrace knowledge.