Thought of the Day 06.05.08

If we’re honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we are scandalously selfish. For starters, we all disobey God because we think that either our wisdom is greater or our desires are more important than His. Then, we excuse our sin by saying, “Well, at least it’ll only hurt me,” as if this charade of nobility atones for it.

But my sin does more than just damage my own soul. It also offends and grieves God, causes me to glorify Him less, and deprives Him of His due honor. It even keeps others from coming to Him because I am now a less enticing ambassador. Further, my sin poisons my social community and can earn us all the wrath of God, even if everyone else does what is right (as we know from examples in that of Achan after Jericho in Joshua 6-7). And then I have the gall to praise Jesus for delivering my soul from destruction, as if the only thing that mattered all along was the dubious benefit to me of avoiding punishment I deserve.

Of all the monsters which strangle my soul, the tentacles of my selfishness penetrate the deepest.