Humbly sinful

Brother Farrell offers some thought-provoking insight into the process of self-justification. He says that because our innate attributes are godly - full of light and truth -- we feel a subconscious need to distort our reality in an effort to retain our claim on some of that goodness within us. We want to be righteous, we want to be good, so we reason with our sins and offer excuses for our behavior that deflect blame. His example is Adam and Eve's reaction to the Lord's discovery of their choice to eat the forbidden fruit. They both blamed another. Farrell says we do the same thing in our lives, and it's that denial of responsibility that creates a hardness in our hearts that doesn't feel a need for a Savior to forgive us. If we don't see ourselves as guilty we don't see Him as a necessary figure in our salvation. What an incredible idea. "Losing sight of our sinfulness, we lose sight of our need for the One who has come to heal the sinner" (23). It's the beginning of turning our hearts away from Him, serving another master, and forgetting who we truly are.