"He who is alone with his sins is utterly alone. It may be that Christians, not withstanding corporate worship , common prayer, and all their fellowship in service, may still be left to their loneliness. The final breakthrough to fellowship does not occur, because, though they have fellowship with one another as believers and as devout people, they do not have fellowship as the undevout, as sinners, The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everyone must conceal his sin from himself and from their fellowship. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous. So we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy. The fact is we are sinners."Dietrich Bonhoeffer
My heart was pricked when a friend shared this quote with me a few months ago. How often do we pray for revival then when God reveals our sins in an attempt to revive us we turn in contempt because we feel the need to hide our sin. How on earth can we expect to be a part of a revival when our own heart are hardened before God. We forget that we Are sinners and that apart from supernatural work of His spirit indwelling in us we can't do anything truly good. We are shocked by their actions and their word. We refuse to forgive and allow the Holy Spirit to do HIS work in their lives. Are we without sin? Has not God forgiven us? How many of us are trapped in sin but cannot escape out of fear of the rejection of those around us? We continue to perpetuate a circle of lies. So when God grants us what we ask, the opportunity to truly minister to someone that has not yet learned the art of hiding behind holy hypocrisy, what should our response be? We desire holiness, but lets face it apart from Gods spirit we are not. We are all sinners in need of the grace of God. Thank God that He doesn't look at our long list of christian holiness. He sees us all the same, warts and all. We desire freedom from the pain in our lives but without acknowledging our sin how can we be set free. I love this verse.
NIB Psalm 51:16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise"God loves it when we are real and honest. None of us has arrived at perfection. None of us will until our bodies of sin are someday removed.
Father, Forgive my self righteous heart. Help me to see my sin the way you see it. Help me to see others the way you see them.Thanks for listening to me ramble out loud:)
4 comments:
I suppose I need to read that everyday...I was 'pricked' again when I read your post. Thank you for sharing how the Lord is working in you. It requires daily dying to self and that, of course, requires humility. I need the Lord Jesus desperately every moment. I am so full of self, self, self. Thank you for your love and prayers. Love you!
You are so right! I really enjoy your posts. They really speak volumes to me.
Good thoughts Voni.
Thanks, Voni. Your posts are so thoughtful, and I am learning to be more transparent with my struggles. It's so much more natural to hide them, don't you think?
I also wanted to thank you again for sharing your experience on my blog. I could feel your tears as I read it (mixed with my own!)! I know it was SO hard to write.
And yet I know there are others who need to hear your story - not just about the pain, but about God's grace, too. God has put you in an incredible place to reach people that won't listen to me because they simply can't identify. Thank you for being so honest - just like your post today. Exposing the lies and pursuing Him Who is the Truth together. Great stuff.
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