The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, Oh God, thou wilt not despise. - Psalm 51:17
As you consider these things, pray and confess prideful attitudes and ask God to revive your heart and make you a broken person
|
Proud people... (for confession not
condemnation) |
Broken people... (for God's transforming
not my reforming) |
| focus
on the failures of others. |
are
overwhelmed with a sense of their own spiritual need. |
| have
a critical, fault-finding spirit; look at everyone else's faults with a
microscope, but their own with a telescope. |
are
compassionate; can forgive much because they know how much they have been
forgiven. |
| are
self-righteous; look down on others. |
esteem
all others better than themselves. |
| have
an independent, self-sufficient spirit. |
have
a dependent spirit; recognize their need for others. |
| have
to prove they are right. |
are
willing to yield the right to be right. |
| claim
rights; have a demanding spirit. |
yield
their rights; have a meek spirit. |
| are
self-protective of their time, their rights, and their reputation. |
are
self-denying. |
| desire
to be served and to be a success. |
are
motivated to serve others, be faithful and make others a success. |
| have
a drive to be recognized and appreciated. |
have
a sense of their own unworthiness; are thrilled that God would use them
at all. |
| are
wounded when others are promoted and they are overlooked. |
are
eager for others to get the credit and rejoice when others are lifted up. |
| feel
confident in how much they know. |
are
humbled by how much they have to learn. |
| are
self-conscious. |
are
not concerned with self at all. |
| keep
others at arms' length and are quick to blame others. |
are
willing to risk getting close to others, take the risks of loving intimately,
accept personal responsibility, and can see where they are wrong in a situation. |
| are
unapproachable or defensive when criticized. |
receive
criticism with a humble, open spirit. |
| are
concerned with being respectable, with what others think; work to protect
their own image and reputation. |
are
concerned with being real; what matters to them is not what others think
but what God knows; are willing to die to their own reputation. |
| find
it difficult to share their spiritual. |
are
willing to be open and transparent with others as God directs. |
| want
to be sure that no one finds out when they have sinned; their instinct is
to cover up. |
once
broken, don't care who knows or who finds out; are willing to be exposed
because they have nothing to lose. |
| have
a hard time saying "I was wrong; will you forgive me?": |
are
quick to admit failure and to seek forgiveness when necessary. |
| tend
to deal in generalities when confessing sin. |
are
able to acknowledge specifics when confessing their sin. |
| are
concerned about the consequences of their sin. |
are
grieved over the cause, the root of their sin. |
| are
remorseful over their sin, sorry that they got caught. |
are
truly, genuinely repentant over their sin, evidenced in the fact that they
forsake that sin. |
| wait
for the other to come and ask forgiveness when there is a misunderstanding
or conflict in a relationship. |
take
the initiative to be reconciled when there is a misunderstanding or conflict
in relationships; they race to the cross; they see if they can get there
first, no matter how wrong the other may have been. |
| compare
themselves with others and feel worthy of honor. |
compare
themselves to the holiness of God and feel a desperate need for His mercy. |
| don't
think they have anything to repent of. |
realize
they have need of a continual heart attitude of repentance. |
| don't
think they need revival, but are sure that everyone else does. |
continually sense their need for a fresh encounter with God and for a fresh
filling of His Holy Spirit. |
| are
blind to their true heart condition. |
walk
in the light. |
