Book description from homeschooloasis.com
“When Adam first sinned, he tried to hide his guilt behind figleaves and blamed God for giving him the woman who led him into sin. As Adam's descendants, we have inherited from him that same tendency – we avoid personal responsibility for misbehavior, hiding our guild behind defense mechanisms or “figleaves.”
Because these figleaves cover so well, we are blind to the sin they hide and often to their very existence. We therefore will not find victory in our pursuit of holiness, nor will we walk in the power that comes with a clear conscience before God.
Until we see how we deny our responsibility in personal problems and our contributions to troubled relationships, we will continue to deceive ourselves about ourselves and will remain unchanged.” This little booklet is powerful and will “nail you to the wall – or, better yet, your flesh to the cross.
Points of impact:
Proverbs 28:13 “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”
We need to become aware of our defense mechanisms and work through them to become clear of sin:
Denial-refusal to consider contribution of problem
Rationalization-avoiding full responsibility
advocation-justifying by rationalizing it into a philosophy
discreditation-find fault with person's qualifications who is doing the confronting
guilt projection-blame someone or something else
guilt sharing-accept blame, but implicate others
avoidance-avoid those who may confront
minimizing-downplay the seriousness
emotional manipulation-play on vulnerable emotions (withdrawal, silent treatment, charm, whining, outbursts)
redirection-change the subject (accusation, flattery, embarrassment, diversion, false confession)
rejection-fuels self pity, shyness, labels
selective hearing
blocking-refuse to consider anything contrary to beliefs
self pity