Before God, by His Spirit, can build us up, God, by His Spirit, must break us down. The man bowed his head to pray over me. “Lord," he began, "I pray that you will break in him what needs to be broken.”  It's a line from Psalm 51. I didn’t know that verse at the time. What I thought was “what arrogance!” It would be years later before that story overcame my pride, and I was able to stand in front of the mirror and say “what arrogance!” 

I wasn’t ready. I was trying to turn a story about God into a story about me…and it made me delight in all that God despises—like keeping records of wrongs; it made me blind to my own selfish ambition which is listed as a major sin alongside slave trading. It made me all mouth and no ears, even though the Bible says a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be quick to listen and slow to speak. And it caused me to see people as projects and scorecards rather than people made in the image of God.

To say it another way, it was all word, and no spirit. It was strength of will, that turned into will worship. It’s what Paul is upset about when he sees it. My friend chose to see me not as an annoying blip on his screen, but a person to be loved and taught. That was over a quarter of a century ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. And it serves as a defining moment in my life.

The sermon today is titled "Soil." It is the last installment in our "Fruit of the Spirit" Series. The Scripture reading is from Psalm 51:8-10. Originally preached at the West Side Church of Christ (Searcy, AR) on August 21, 2022. These lessons fit under one of 5 broad categories: Begin, Discover, Grow, Learn, and Serve. This sermon is filed under Grow: Spiritual Formation.

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