"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." (James 1:22) "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man... And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man..." (Matt 7:24-27) Deceit is a strong word. Not many people take lightly to being deceived. There are people who will lose their temper and act out uncontrollably if they find out that they have been deceived. And I don't blame them in most cases. Because to be deceived implies that someone has taken our intelligence for granted. It is a direct insult to our personality and sagacity. It is not just hurtful to feel deceived, it is also shameful. Because when you are deceived, you feel like you have been intellectually abused. You feel like the deceiver has taken advantage of you... and that can mess up your psyche on so many levels! But today we look at a more dangerous type of deceit: SELF DECEIT!.
As bad as deceit is; yet many people do it to themselves everyday. The devil's sole aim is to deceive you and rob you of the things that are rightly yours in Christ. The Bible says he (the devil) has come to steal, kill and destroy. The funny thing about the devil's stealing is that it is not armed robbery! The devil does not accost you with a gun or any weapon and make you give him what is yours. No! The devil steals by deceit. He talks you, seduces you and manipulates you into giving him what is yours. He deceives you into giving away what is yours. That is how he steals.
But what baffles my mind is that in James 1:22 the Bible says that some people don't need the devil to steal from them or kill them or destroy them because they are already doing it to themselves on their own! Most christians and church goers don't need the devil to deceive them because they are already deceiving themselves perfectly well.
It says "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves", In other words if you hear the word and fail to do it you are deceiving yourself. Going to church, sitting on the pews, clapping and jumping up, giving your tithe and offerings; and then finally hearing the wonderful sermon of the day, every week ; and failing to do it - deciding not to practise what you have heard, the Bible says, is an act of self deceit!