This popular phrase sounds like it comes right out of Proverbs, and resonates with our American can-do, pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps mentality, but it actually the exact opposite of the message of the gospel. Spiritually, there is nothing we can do to help ourselves – we are all dead in our sin. The truth is that God helps those who are utterly helpless, because we are incapable of helping ourselvs. Rom 5:6-8, Eph 2:8-9