Self-Knowledge and Temptation

Let him that would not enter into temptation labour to know his own heart, to be acquainted with his own spirit, his natural frame and temper, his lusts and corruptions, his natural sinful or spiritual weakness, that, finding where his weakness lies, he may be careful to keep at a distance from all occasions of sin. Our Saviour tells the disciples "that they knew not what spirit they were of," which under a pretence of zeal betrayed them into ambition and desire of revenge. Had they known it they would have watched over themselves. David tells us (Psa. xviii. 23) that he considered his ways, and "kept himself from his iniquity," which he was particularly prone unto. . . Take heed lest you have Jehu in you that shall make you drive furiously, or a Jonah in you that will make you ready to repine, or a David that will make you hasty in your determinations, as he was often in the warmth and goodness of his natural temper. He who watches not this thoroughly, who is not exactly skilled in the knowledge of himself, will never be disentangled from one temptation or another all his days.—Owen.