SELF-DECEPTION:
I John 1:5-10 NKJV
[5] This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. [6] If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. [7] But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. [8] If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [10] If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
One of the most grievous acts of deception is self-deception, and this could easily be one of the reasons why we are not experiencing the full blessings of God and the desired freedom in Christ. As Believers, we must be careful not to be deceived and also not to deceive ourselves and others.
Self-deception is a process of denying or rationalizing away the relevance, significance, or importance of opposing evidence and logical argument. Self-deception involves convincing oneself of a truth so that one does not reveal any self-knowledge of the deception.
Wikipedia
Or
Someone who is self-deceiving persuades themselves that something false is true, or that their feelings or reasons for doing something are different from what they really are (Cambridge English Dictionary).
We deceive ourselves when we say we have no sin. We deceive ourselves when we fail to have fellowship with each other. We deceive ourselves when we know the truth and yet choose to be smart (James 1:22-26). We are self-deceived when we compare ourselves to each other, think we are better and wiser than others (2 Corinthians 10:12, Romans 12:3, Galatians 6:3, Proverbs 26:12, and 1 Corinthians 3:18).
Friends, the root causes of self-deception are fear and self-serving desires (James 1:13-16). To be free from self-deception we must first realign our core values to the word of God, repent, and ask God for forgiveness.
Those who are free from self-deception are teachable, faithfully obedient to the word of God, and love to fellowship with other believers. May God grant us a deeper understanding of these things.