But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:12-14
“We should judge ourselves before God, for those things that the world cannot know, for spiritual sins: as the motions of pride, of worldliness, of revenge, of security, unthankfulness, and such like unkindness towards God, and in general, our barrenness in all good duties, that we owe to God and men. Such sins the world cannot see; yet these should humble our hearts; for when we do not make conscience of spiritual sins, God may soon give us up to some open abominations, that stain and publicly disgrace our holy profession.”
Richard Sibbes in Divine Meditations and Holy Contemplations, #191 (London: J. Buckland, 1875) 69.
When we hear of “great transgressions” as the psalmist put it, they result from not dealing with spiritual sins in our lives. And nothing can hinder our generosity like spiritual sins.
How do pride, worldliness, revenge, security, unthankfulness, and unkindness toward God surface in your life? On this Lord’s day, ask God to help you examine your life and discern your errors.
Why mention this? As my team comes together, we will be talking a lot about prayer, fasting, and confession. I believe these are keys for helping unlock challenges greater than ourselves.
The work of Global Trust Partners seeks to train God’s workers in faithful administration which aims to counteract corruption to increasing generous participation in God’s work globally.
In many parts of the world, it’s as if the church is in captivity and not positioned to flourish. We can’t help those people if we ourselves are not right with God. We must first examine ourselves.
Again, what about you? What do you find as you examine your heart? Ask God to help you remove any spiritual sins that could bring dishonor to His name or hinder your generous service.