"He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? Let us stand together; who is my accuser? Let him come near to me." Isaiah 50:8
The habit of self-justification is diabolical because it is one of the shades of massive unbelief. All unbelief follows the standard formula of a life centered on yourself. God is not even considered a factor; we take our lives into our own hands (and at our own risk). Consequently, we alone are to solve our own problems (because there is no one else); and when we justify ourselves, we have summarily excused God from the throne of our lives and parked our confused carcasses their instead. Only God can justify, because only He sees all, and thus only He can be absolutely objective and just. Self-justification is merely another form of pride, which is merely another form of unbelief, i.e., a life centered on self and not God.
When our reality includes God, however, we will (amongst other things) care nothing for what men say about us; we will care nothing for our rights, our way, our self. All that we have and are is placed in God's hands, and we relinquish all say in the matter (which is really the acknowledgment that we had no say in the matter in the first place). None can nay-say the one whose life is centered on God, because (1) God will always lead that one rightly, and (2) the God-centered one is blissfully unaware of himself, his cares, his rights; therefore, he cares very little about the mockery, scorn, and misunderstandings of others.
"He is near that justifieth me." Do you live in the light of that truth, or are you obsessed with yourself. When God is near, when God is your abiding reality, then and only then are all things well and at peace.
"When God is near,
All the world seems far away.
How can I stray, how can I falter,
When I know my God is near?"
(anonymous song)
-Jon Vowell
The habit of self-justification is diabolical because it is one of the shades of massive unbelief. All unbelief follows the standard formula of a life centered on yourself. God is not even considered a factor; we take our lives into our own hands (and at our own risk). Consequently, we alone are to solve our own problems (because there is no one else); and when we justify ourselves, we have summarily excused God from the throne of our lives and parked our confused carcasses their instead. Only God can justify, because only He sees all, and thus only He can be absolutely objective and just. Self-justification is merely another form of pride, which is merely another form of unbelief, i.e., a life centered on self and not God.
When our reality includes God, however, we will (amongst other things) care nothing for what men say about us; we will care nothing for our rights, our way, our self. All that we have and are is placed in God's hands, and we relinquish all say in the matter (which is really the acknowledgment that we had no say in the matter in the first place). None can nay-say the one whose life is centered on God, because (1) God will always lead that one rightly, and (2) the God-centered one is blissfully unaware of himself, his cares, his rights; therefore, he cares very little about the mockery, scorn, and misunderstandings of others.
"He is near that justifieth me." Do you live in the light of that truth, or are you obsessed with yourself. When God is near, when God is your abiding reality, then and only then are all things well and at peace.
"When God is near,
All the world seems far away.
How can I stray, how can I falter,
When I know my God is near?"
(anonymous song)
-Jon Vowell
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