Posts Tagged ‘God knows you’

Someone Knows You Better Than Yourself

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

2nd Thursday of Christmas

1John 3: 11-21; John 1: 43-51

Dc. Larry Brockman

 

You know what?  There is someone out there who knows you better than you know yourself.

 

I’m not talking about your Mom or Dad; I’m not talking about your spouse; and I’m not talking about your best friend.  Although those who are close to you often times do seem to know you better than you know yourself.  That’s because it is always easier for a person to be more objective about what someone else does than it is for them to be objective about their own actions.  We let ourselves be deceived about things that we do; this happens gradually, almost silently.  And so, we can become attracted to something or wander off into a pattern of behavior and we try to suppress how damaging it is to us.  That’s how we become addicted to eating too much food or the wrong foods or alcohol or TV or gossiping or a host of other things.  We can be blind to our weaknesses, or look the other way. But others, especially those close to us, can see it.  We can even become angry when someone rightly points to our deficiencies.  Because we see all of their faults as clearly as they see ours! 

 

But still, I am not talking about those who are close to us. Rather, I’m talking about God.  Because it is God who knows us better than we know ourselves and God doesn’t have any of those faults.   

 

John says something very profound in the first reading.  He says: “This is how we shall know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.”  Yes, God knows everything.  He knows that we have these human frailties, and He knows that we have secrets that those who are close to us do not know.  He knows how we struggle with our own imperfections deep down.  He knows we are truly sorry for them, but being the weak humans that we are we keep doing some of these things, and sometimes we give up and even condemn ourselves.  But, God also sees the whole person that we are.  God is on our side- offering us His grace and counsel should we ask for them.  The last thing he wants is for us to give up on ourselves and condemn ourselves.  We need to feel the guilt; yes, but resolve to always do better. 

 

Fortunately for us, we will be judged by God and not others.  God will judge us based on the totality of who we are.  Because He sees the good things we do as well, and sometimes we are harder on ourselves than anyone else.   

 

I have always been puzzled by today’s Gospel until I saw the connection with this first reading.  Nathanael makes a sarcastic remark when told about of Jesus:  “Can anything good come from Nazareth”?  I’m sure you and I can relate to a person like Nathanael- always the caustic remark; the sharp tongue.   And yet, Jesus, through the eyes of God, saw something special in Nathanael.  Jesus saw deeper than the external façade that Nathanael displayed to people.  And so Jesus said of Nathanael:  “Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him.”  Yes, God knew Nathanael better than Nathanael.  He knows us better too; and He doesn’t give up on us.  Neither should we give up on ourselves.