I have just finished memorizing 1 John. In the book, John writes a lot about being deceived. The devil can deceive us, false teachers can deceive us, and we can deceive ourselves. To be self-deceived is to have a gap between what we believe and perceive about ourselves to be accurate and who we really are. The bigger that gap, the more deceived we are. The opposite of being deceived would be to be mentally and spiritually healthy. To be deceived would be like looking in a mirror and seeing a horse head and thinking that it is you, or looking in the mirror and seeing John Wayne and thinking that it is you. People can’t grow in character or spiritually if they are deceived because they have no idea what to change. Everyone is deceived to some degree; we don’t really know who we are, why we do what we do, or even what we actually do and say. That is a scary thought. I spend a lot of time thinking about who I am, why I do what I do, and what I said and did in reality. Thoughtful Bible reading will help us a lot toward being spiritually and mentally healthy. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.