Self-actualization or realization is powerful. As a matter of fact, the first step in most recovery programs or in counseling is just that. It’s admitting and recognizing, being honest in your self-awareness about where you are. Yet we miss it, the point of it all when we stop there. Yes, you recognize and admit, but there’s more. We need to move into resetting patterns and working through our issues.

The power of self-awareness is not in self-awareness or realization itself. It is in the change that the realization can bring. It is in the pivoting power of knowing that we don’t remain as we are, that we work to be a little bit better with each step. Think of it this way. If I go to the doctor and they advise that I have a condition such as diabetes or cancer. Just admitting it changes nothing. Only knowing doesn’t resolve the issue. Don’t get me wrong, we need to know what’s wrong, but there has to be a next step. What we do once we know is where the power of realization is truly discovered. Knowing changes nothing on its own, but when paired with the next step it can change everything.

If you don’t admit the issue or the problem you will never seek to remedy it, you will not know how to remedy it. So, we can’t overlook what it means to realize or be aware. Yet once we know, then we can pivot. We can move and act in the right way to make right what is wrong. To heal what is sick. To treat our ills. To strengthen our weaknesses.  Simple right, but we all know that it’s not. Nothing is simple ever. This isn’t earth shattering information, we all already know it’s true. So why bother writing about it now? Because I see a trend in our world. A very disturbing and damaging trend. We get stuck.

We confess and admit and never go further. We accept them as our conditions. I am you fill in the blank whatever, and we accept it. We become a victim of these things that we think we are. We tell ourselves this is just the way I am. I just have to live with this. But do we? Are we victims of our weaknesses, our challenges, our illnesses, of the roadblocks in our life? God forbid. We need to, especially as believers, understand that God reveals to heal. He shows us the areas of weakness in our lives so we can fortify our defenses. He shows us damaging patterns so we can in his strength and wisdom reset them. He reveals our wounds so he can provide healing and restoration to us. He doesn’t reveal to show us as victims, no he reveals to heal and lead us to be victors.

So today I challenge you, yes, admit and recognize those things in your life that are pain points, challenges, weaknesses, or areas of sickness, but do not be a victim of them. Instead, take the next step towards transformation, healing, and freedom in Christ. It is for freedom that he set us free so walk in your freedom as victors. We have overcome by faith even when we can’t see it yet. With the whole body of Christ to support us and encourage us, with his spirit to empower us and comfort us, and with his promises of faithfulness to us we can walk forward in true victory. What’s next? Don’t miss it because that’s where the power of true freedom is for all us as believers.