This list is from Nancy Leigh DeMoss’s “Brokenness: The Heart God
Revives” book. It is a non-exhaustive
(as she describes) list comparing a proud person’s attitude to a broken person’s. She starts the chapter saying, “Years ago a
missionary served in a region in Africa that had known seasons of true
revival. He reported that whenever he
would mention the name of any Christian, the national believers would ask him, ‘Is
he a broken Christian?’ They did not
ask, ‘Is he a committed…knowledgeable…or…hardworking Christian?’ They wanted to know, ‘Is he a broken
Christian?’ Are you a broken
Christian? Am I? How can we know?”
I appreciate reading in black and white the prideful sins I so easily
try to make gray in my justifying.
Before I even read the first list of “Attitude toward others” I knew I
was guilty of being critical and judgmental.
O, LORD, may I not justify these character traits and see clearly as the
comparison to the proud, self-made rules I have in my own head. Ugh!
May I feel them as ugly as soon as the thought enters my head and Cut ItOff!
I was convicted that I needed to get permission before posting this copyrighted material, so I removed it and will hopefully follow through and receive permission. In the mean time the list can be found on pages 88-101of Nancy Leigh DeMoss's book "Brokenness: The heart God Revives"
Sorry, for the inconvenience.
Whew! That is a great list. I have many thoughts about this. I wonder what the line is. And is asking about a line a sign of justifying sin? For example, proud people don't ask for forgiveness, but broken people do (paraphrased). How would this author respond to people who compulsively ask for forgiveness and never let the other person take responsibility? Is that pride or brokenness? Maybe I'm just in a profession that highlights this behavior; maybe it's not as common as it seems to me. Also, this list can be a bit overwhelming! As someone who feels hyper sensitive to her sin, it's easy for me to convict myself line after line. I need the reminder of God's surpassing greatness to save me from feeling like the chasm is too great between me and God.
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