Do you ever feel less sinful than you perceive others to be? Have you ever listened to someone else’s testimony and wondered what sin God has saved you from? You see, I grew up in a fairly stable environment and had Christian influences in my life since I was born and I feel like God has kept me from straying too far off the path. So what is it that God is actually saving me from? I had this discussion with a good friend of mine in which he told me he felt the same way. He told me that he knew he was a sinner, but since he had never really done anything that bad in his life that he has a harder time appreciating God’s saving grace as much as other people with amazing testimonies. We both struggled with this together until we finally came to a conclusion. Luke 7:47 “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” But isn’t all sin the same in God’s eyes? Yes. Now we can sit here and compare ourselves to the Ten Commandments all day (which I believe is a healthy exercise as the commandments are a mirror that allow us to see our sin) but I would recommend another approach for people who share the same difficulty as I do.
Instead of trying to convict yourself of your sin, allow God’s Spirit to do so by first doing a study on the Holiness of God. Read Isaiah 6:1-7 and Revelation 4. Anytime I find myself feeling like I’m not a sinner I read these passages and it really humbles me and shows me that even though I wasn’t pulled from the depths of depravity like some of my friends, I am none-the-less, just as sinful. It’s like coming back from a camping trip. You don’t realize just how dirty you are until you get home and see your face and hands in the light of your bathroom. The closer we get to God the more apparent our sin becomes in the light of his holiness. Maybe you don’t have a radical testimony, maybe your testimony is more like mine, an average American male who deals with pride and lust. You’ve never murdered someone (except in your heart Matt 5:21-26) and you’ve never committed adultery (except in your heart Matt 5:27-28) but I can guarantee that if you read just how holy God is then you will see just how sinful you truly are. And when we know just how much we have been forgiven of we are enabled to love God so much more.
We can’t medicate man to perfection again
We can’t legislate peace in our hearts
We can’t educate sin from our souls
It’s been there from the start
But the blind lead the blind into bottomless pits
Still we smile and deny that we’re cursed
But of all our iniquities
Ignorance may be the worst
Thrice – All the World is Mad
That’s my perspective.
Ben Peters
I know what you are saying...amen. It is hard for kids brought up in Christian homes to really get a grasp of what the Lord has done for them. But yes, we all fall excedingly short when we look upon His holiness.
ReplyDeleteGood thoughts Ben, and a very good thing to consider.
ReplyDeleteLet me challenge you to think about this. God did save you from all the terrible things you hear from those "amazing" testimonies. But you were listening and obedient, so God could save you from them BEFORE you experienced them. While your testimony may not "sound" as "fun" as some testimonies. Just remember that, while exciting sounding, those testimonies come with pain and suffering that you have been blessed to NOT have experienced. They also give Satan a foothold to try and distract that person from growing closer to God (with guilt and conviction).
I wish I had your testimony. I wish I had maintained my walk from an early age, as you have. It makes my heart (and God's) happy to hear when a young man or woman has a "boring" testimony in which they walked with God their entire life, never having experienced the pain I have. You have a far better testimony than you can imagine, even if it does not make for an exciting story.