On one end of the spectrum are people who are prideful and don't think they need God....even Christians. They think "I've got this!". They don't walk in grace, they don't forgive people, they think they are better than others and generally look down on others. Christians can walk in this way when they don't forgive or they don't ask for forgiveness or they think other Christians have got it wrong and their way is the right way. Well THIS end of the spectrum is a slap in the face to God. Are we so good that we forget that ANYTHING good we do is by God's grace. If your marriage is going well - God's grace. If you're a good parent - God's grace. If you are compassionate and feed the poor - God's grace. We are evil by nature. We can't muster up anything good. Lest we forget that God is the one who gives us these good things, especially grace! We're not 'good Christians' because we're so good. No we're where we are at because of God.
On the other end of the spectrum is people so low in self-esteem. They think God can't use them and they think they're not worth saving and that God likely is mad at them and doesn't love them. This end of the spectrum is ALSO a slap in the face to God. It's really an arrogant stance, even though it doesn't seem like it. Do we think we're too bad that God's grace isn't big enough for us? That his love isn't big enough for us? God went bankrupt saving us. He gave up his SON for us. HE LOVES US! NOBODY and I mean NOBODY escapes God's love. Nobody, no matter what they have done, can escape the love of the Father. Nobody is so bad they can't be saved. Nobody is so bad that God couldn't or wouldn't use them. Rahab in the Bible was a prostitute and God used her. Not a former prostitute. A current one. Almost everybody else in the Bible was complete idiots too. But God used them. So lest we be so arrogant in our self-pity that we forget WHO God is and WHAT he did for us.
I don't think I'm on either end of the spectrum but somewhere in the middle. Sometimes I struggle with pride and arrogance and sometimes I struggle with self-pity and have self-esteem issues. So I repented of both. Man have I been arrogant in both ways. Forgetting who God is. Thankfully he still loves me the same!
ALSO - a praise the Lord moment. Tonight BY GOD'S GRACE (and I mean it) I was able to forgive some people and see a situation in a different light. I was able to have compassion on people who I was just bitter towards. I know it's by God's grace because I've held onto this un-forgiveness for over a year.
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