public static void main(String[] args) {
    String json = "{ "active": false }";
    final MyObject myObject = new MyObject();
    final Gson gson = new GsonBuilder().excludeFieldsWithoutExposeAnnotation().create();

    myObject.fromGson(gson.fromJson(json, MyObject.class));
    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
        myObject.setActive(!myObject.isActive());
    }
}

private static class MyObject {
    @Expose private boolean active;
    private static MyObject self;

    public MyObject() {
        this.active = false;
        self = this; // notice where this line is located
    }

    public static boolean active() {
        return self.isActive();
    }

    public boolean isActive() {
        return active;
    }

    public void setActive(boolean active) {
        this.active = active;

        System.out.println("this: " + this.isActive());
        System.out.println("self: " + self.isActive());
    }

    public void fromGson(MyObject object) {
        this.setActive(object.isActive());
    }
}

this: false
self: false
this: true
self: false
this: false
self: false
this: true
self: false
this: false
self: false
this: true
self: false
this: false
self: false
this: true
self: false
this: false
self: false
this: true
self: false
this: false
self: false

public MyObject() {
    this.active = false;
}

public void fromGson(MyObject object) {
    self = this; // notice the new position
    this.setActive(object.isActive());
}

this: false
self: false
this: true
self: true
this: false
self: false
this: true
self: true
this: false
self: false
this: true
self: true
this: false
self: false
this: true
self: true
this: false
self: false
this: true
self: true
this: false
self: false