I read the following
recently. O, that we would all remember
the truth of it in our daily lives! Don’t think of who needs to hear it – for
that defeats the purpose of it! – but simply read it and acknowledge your own
depravity. The gospel is not good news until the reality of our personal
sinfulness is grasped in the depths of our heart.
Apart from the new birth,
I am my main problem. You
are not my main problem. My parents were not my main problem. My enemies are
not my main problem. I am my main problem. Not my deeds, and
not my circumstances, and not the people in my life, but my nature is my deepest
problem…My nature is selfish and
self-centered and demanding and very skilled in making you feel like the
problem. And if your first response is to that statement is I know people like that, you may be
totally blind to the deceitfulness of your own heart. Our first response should
not be finger-pointing. That's part of the problem. Our first response should
be contrition. –
John Piper, Finally Alive (49), author’s emphasis
Yikes. My sin debilitates me more than I care to admit or acknowledge. Thanks be to God, Jesus Christ has overcome even ME!
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