I have noticed a striking paradox in Christian growth. As believers become more like the Savior, they become more deeply aware of their own sinfulness. This is not the result of morbid introspection nor evidence of a warped self-image. It’s an honest recognition of who they are, who Christ is, and how much they long to be like Him.
A party of tourists were visiting the home where the composer Beethoven had spent his final years. The caretaker led the group to a certain room that housed a stately old piano. Lifting the cover, almost with an air of reverence, he said, “This was Beethoven’s piano!” Immediately a young lady stepped forward, sat down on the music stool, and began playing one of Beethoven’s sonatas. Concluding, she spun around and said to the shocked caretaker, “I supposed of many people who visit here like to play on Beethoven’s piano.” “Well, Miss,” he replied, “last summer the world famous Paderewski was here, and some of his friends wanted him to play, but he said, ‘No, I am not worthy.’”
After a glimpse of God’s holiness, Isaiah cried out, “Woe is me!” (Isaiah 6:5). At the end of his suffering, Job humbly confessed, “Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6). And John the Baptist said of the Messiah, “He who cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear.” A healthy sense of our unworthiness before God makes us rely more than ever on the worthiness of Jesus. That’s the secret of becoming like Him. – Dennis J. De Haan
This is my prayer and deepest longing –
To be pure without, within;
Oh, I want to be like Jesus
Cleansed from dross and free from self and sin. – Peterson
The smaller we become, the more room God has to work.
- May 17, 1984, Our Daily Bread
For You 