Have you ever had one of those moments when you thought to yourself that there really was something inherently wrong with you? Maybe it comes in the dark hours of the night? Maybe it comes on the backside of a failed relationship? Maybe It comes from our deep regrets about the past – a failed marriage, friendship loved one who is now estranged from you? Maybe you blew it somehow, hurt someone or said something that wounded someone close to you? Maybe it was in the aftermath of some horrendous mistake, failure or character flaw? Maybe it’s due to a cycle of behavior from which there seems to be no escape?
This dilemma can trace its roots to a number of sources but the question is always the same – Maybe there really is something intrinsically flawed about you that makes you different from other people? Maybe you’ve questioned whether you were hopelessly flawed, irreparably broken or irredeemably dysfunctional because you failed so many times or kept repeating the same mistakes. Maybe the question is one that has nagged you all your life like a broken record that keeps getting derailed at the same place over and over again?
Well, if you’re not narcissistic, delusional, in denial or deceived by your own inflated sense of self-glory you have probably asked yourself that question a few times. So, what is the answer? Are you screwed up, dysfunctional in some ways or broken? Is there something inherently wrong with you? This may come as a rude awakening but the answer is “YES!” The truth is that there is something inherently wrong with every one of us. It’s called the sin nature and we all have one. As David said, “We were born in sin and shaped in iniquity.” It is our fallen nature to be morally flawed, dysfunctional and inherently wrong in our very nature. That’s why we are called “sinners”. You may look right, act right, talk right, seem right and think right but still be wrong like the rest of us.
We can spend our entire life in the never-ending quest to be a better person, to live right or appear to be more together than we actually are but the truth is that we are all flawed. In fact, there is no part of our being that is not flawed to some degree. To think otherwise is to falsely presume that you never were a sinner or are now living in a state of sinless perfection. In reality, there are only two types of people – “sinners” and “sinners saved by Grace”.
That is why Jesus died on a cross to save us from ourselves, to deliver us, sanctify us and conform us into His flawless image. It’s a gradual process we are all going through. We may still struggle with our old nature but He has not left us to ourselves. It is a process that takes time but God is patient. We make mistakes, we sin and we sometimes even act like unredeemed sinners but he is working in us each moment to transform us and cleanse us an renew us. What’s more, He that is inherently righteous, good and holy now resides in us. He works in us and through us to fulfill His eternal purpose for our lives – to transform wretched sinners into saints.
“Likewise, the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses…And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed into the image of His Son…” (Romans 8)
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