Jerry Bridges' Respectable Sins is the anti-page turner - I hesitate turning to the next page because I know the Holy Spirit will convict me yet again through Bridges' words. But I LOVE the concept of his book - we so often tend to overlook the "seemingly less egregious sins" such as impatience, anxiety, discontentment, while pointing out the ills of society. As someone who tends to be a cultural critic, I guilty as charged. We all remember the parable Jesus tells about pointing out the speck in your neighbor's eye, while ignoring the plank in your own eye...but that's just a nice story to remind children to be nice to each other, right? NO!
Christ is teaching us that it doesn't matter if I haven't gone out and murdered someone, my sin, no matter what it is, needs to be dealt with in my life. And it all goes back to ungodliness - the mindset that things I do not need God in my life, whether through deliberate actions or a subconscious lifestyle.
One of my favorite lines from Oswald Chambers:
"Never tolerate, because of sympathy for yourself or for otheres, any practice that is not in keeping with a holy God. Holiness means absolute purity of your walk before God, the words coming from your mouth, and every thought in your mind."
Nothing should go unchecked. Which means I need to rely upon the Holy Spirit to bring certain sins and behavior to light in my life. THE GOOD NEWS IS - Christ died to rescue me from those sins once and for all and we can rejoice in that gift of grace.
But, the process of sanctification continues. More thoughts on Respectable Sins forthcoming...