Tried With Fire

I'm thankful for the gospel and this quote: There is hope for us who struggle with timidity. There is hope for us who forget on a daily basis the work of Christ on the cross. When we realize that we've blown it yet again, we must throw ourselves at the mercy of God shown to us at the cross. When our attitudes are poor, we must cry out to Jesus for help. When we're certain that we're doing fine and the shroud of pretense begins to envelop us, we must repent of our pride and grab hold of Jesus, confident that he will heal our broken hearts. The grace of God reminds us to live in the reality of the gospel and the future that he has promised us in Christ. Our confidence comes from what Jesus has done and will do in the future in raising us from the dead to eternal life, just as he was raised. We can reject the self-love of self-loathing and prideful gloating. This will happen when we see Jesus as he truly is. In seeing him, he becomes more and more precious to u...

On Sunday evening, several ladies from my church were discussing the hindrances to building relationships with one another. Yeah, we're busy. Yeah, we need to get to know one another better. Those are valid things to consider, but I think this quote gives a deeper, heart-level assessment of the problem: Perhaps our relationships are terminally casual because we're not willing to disclose what's at the heart level. Perhaps nobody dares to ask. Maybe we're unsure of how we are really doing. Maybe we're not willing to hear from others how they are really doing. Maybe we're afraid of the truth  - that it would overwhelm us. Maybe we're insecure because we've been burned in the past. Maybe we're selfishly absorbed with what goes on in our own hearts. Maybe we're just ignorant of the beauty of self-disclosure shared for the sake of the gospel. Maybe we'd rather cling to our assumptions of others. Sometimes we're so wrapped up in our own p...