“It is not enough to watch our circumstances to detect the times of temptation. We must also watch our heart to know when temptation might approach us.
We need to know our own heart, our natural disposition, and the lusts, corruptions, and spiritual weaknesses that beset us. Our Savior told the disciples, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of” (Luke 9:55). They had ambition and the desire for revenge. Had they known it, they would have watched themselves. David tells us he considered his ways and kept himself from the iniquity to which he was prone (Psalm 18:23).
Just as people have differing and distinctive personalities, so they are also affected by distinctive temptations. These relate to their nature, education, and other factors. Unless we are conscious of these propensities, relationships, and dynamic possibilities, temptation will constantly entangle us. This is why it is so important to know ourselves- our temperaments and our attitudes.
If people did not remain strangers to themselves, they would not maintain all their lives in the same paralyzed state. But they give flattering names to their own natural weaknesses. They try to justify, palliate, or excuse the evils of their own hearts, rather than uproot and destroy them ruthlessly. They never gain a realistic view of themselves. Ineffective lives and scandal grow like branches out of this root of self-ignorance. How few truly seek to know themselves, or possess the courage to do so.”
– John Owen