There is no transformation or growth without repentance. There is no repentance without self-examination.  If you want to grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, then you need to grow in the knowledge of your own self.  When you let Him change you, you will know Him better.  The most painful, ongoing thing you and I have to do is to look at our own lives through the lens of the eternal Son.  Ironically, we see ourselves in studying Him.  When I see Him illumined in the pages of Scripture by the Holy Spirit, my prayer is, “Lord, have mercy on me and remake me in Your likeness.”