Tuesday, January 20, 2009


The following piece is by John Newton and he says he is attempting to sketch the Christian’s temper as it should be towards God. Whenever I read or hear that a description is coming to evaluate our faith, it always demands my attention to find how far I lag behind. I thought this was good hope you like it.


“The Christian’s temper Godward is evidenced by humility. He has received from Gethsemane and Golgotha such a sense of the evil of sin and of the holiness of God combined with His matchless love to sinners as has deeply penetrated his heart; he has an affecting remembrance of the state of rebellion and enmity in which he once lived against this holy and good God; and he has a quick perception of the defilements and defects which still debase his best services. His mouth is therefore stopped as to boasting; he is vile in his own eyes, and is filled with wonder that the Lord should visit such a sinner with such a salvation. He sees so vast a disproportion between the obligations he is under to grace and the returns he makes that he is disposed, yea, constrained, to adopt the apostle’s words without affectation and to account himself the least of all the saints; and knowing his own heart, while he sees only the outside of others, he is not easily persuaded there can be a believer upon the earth so faint, so unfruitful, so unworthy as himself.”
Photo by Karen Rexrode

3 comments:

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hi Fred :)

Very interesting post. It is easy to talk about humility but very difficult to practice it.

Many thanks for sharing

Have a wonderful day :)

FCB said...

Hi Joseph,
So true, difficult to practice. It may be the most difficult of all the virtues don't you think? There is a sense of pride in us all that takes a lifetime to tame.
Praise be to God that He is patient!
Fred

Douglas Abbott said...

I love how you mine the library of antiquity, Fred. the ancients had a reverence and a sense of surrender that is rare these days. And yes, pride is the 800-pound gorilla that we have most seriously to contend with.

Blessings.