For Ragamuffins, God’s name is Mercy. We see our darkness as a prized possession because it drives us into the heart of God. Without mercy our darkness would plunge us into despair – for some, self-destruction. Time alone with God reveals the unfathomable depths of the poverty of the spirit. We are so poor that even our poverty is not our own: It belongs to the mysterium tremendum of a loving God. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
Shame–what happened when my mother, the dragon, huffed and puffed and blew my self down. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
In my experience, self-hatred is the dominant malaise crippling Christians and stifling their growth in the Holy Spirit. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
Accepting the reality of our sinfulness means accepting our authentic self. Judas could not face his shadow; Peter could. The latter befriended the impostor within; the former raged against him. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
The forgiveness of God is gratuitous liberation from guilt. Paradoxically, the conviction of personal sinfulness becomes the occasion of encounter with the merciful love of the redeeming God. “There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner repenting…” (Luke 15:7). In his brokenness, the repentant prodigal knew an intimacy with his father that his sinless, self-righteous brother would never know. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
The kingdom is not an exclusive, well-trimmed suburb with snobbish rules about who can live there. No, it is for a larger, homelier, less self-conscious caste of people who understand they are sinners because they have experienced the yaw and pitch of moral struggle. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
The sorrow of God lies in our fear of Him, our fear of life, and our fear of ourselves. He anguishes over our self-absorption and self-sufficiency… God’s sorrow lies in our refusal to approach Him when we sinned and failed. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
The noonday devil of the Christian life is the temptation to lose the inner self while preserving the shell of edifying behavior. Suddenly I discover that I am ministering to AIDS victims to enhance my resume. I find I renounced ice cream for Lent to lose five excess pounds… I have fallen victim to what T.S. Eliot calls the greatest sin: to do the right thing for the wrong reason. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
We even refuse to be our true self with God- and then wonder why we lack intimacy with him. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion. God’s love for you and his choice of you constitute your worth. Accept that, and let it become the most important thing in your life. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
My inner wolf seeks to destroy the one I love for reasons of self-preservation. For the only cure to free my soul is to be killed, in an act of true love, by the one who loves me most. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
You are nothing if not exhaustive in your self-congratulatory made-up logic. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
That’s kind of what trust is, isn’t it? A willful self-delusion. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
So, using his pride like a shield against despair, dejection, and-most important— self-pity, Raoden raised his head to stare damnation in the eyes. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
Sometimes the best offense was avoiding self-destruction. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 2shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest1 LinkedIn1 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
A lie twice believed is self decieved Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
Don’t let a grade decide your self-worth. Personally, in my opinion, someone should gauge their self-worth on what they’ve accomplished that makes them feel good… not in the hedonist aspect, but in the sense of personal accomplishment, as far as what they’ve accomplished for them, as far as their self-development and creativity is concerned. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
When you are willing to shine the light of love onto the parts that you are not proud of – onto the unaccepted parts, the unloved parts, the unwanted emotions, into all the darkened corners of your soul – love will suffuse them, embrace them, until you are left as nothing but love itself. Love arises when you expose everything. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
Sometimes seeming happy can be self-destructive even when you’re sane. Help us to share this great article. Your friends will appreciate it! 0shares Facebook0 Twitter0 Pinterest0 LinkedIn0 Flipboard Tumblr0 Mix
