Journal Entry ~ 10/26/19

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 "I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."  - Jeremiah 17:9-10

The heart is deceitful above all things, which means it’s hard to admit a problem we don’t see. Our hearts hide our flaws from us - flaws others see so well, but are hidden from us. We are so self-focused and we do such a great job of justifying our actions to ourselves that we don’t see the wrong in them. 

We like to convince ourselves that our anger tells us more about the flawed people we do life with than it tells us about ourselves. We like to think our impatience tells us more about the poor planning or lack of character in the people we engage with than it does us. We like to justify our sin by blaming it on the world around us. 

When we talk about what is wrong in our lives, we have a tendency to point to the other people in our lives - our spouses, our children, our bosses, co-workers, neighbors. It’s always someone else’s fault. Or we may point to a difficult situation, the fact that we were raised poorly, we’re not feeling well, or some injustice we’ve had to live with as the cause of our sin. It’s always something or someone else’s fault. 

But the Bible is quite clear, my friends - we are all sinners and we have all fallen short of the glory of God. I know some of you are well read and may read right past that verse say, “yeah, I know...I admit my sin.”  I think sometimes we become so familiar with a verse that we slide right on past it without letting it hit the depth of our soul. WE are broken, sinful people. I am a broken, sinful person. My sin is the only sin I should be focusing on - not the sin of others as a justification for why I have sinned. 

Our hearts are deceitful about all things. It will keep us pointing and looking at others or at difficult circumstances as a way to justify our own sin - our anger, our fears, our despair and our foolishness. Dig down this week and uncover your own sin, without looking at the sin of others. 

Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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