Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord;
O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
— Psalm 130:1-3
For the church to be built up, we don’t need to be so “right.” Instead, we need to be more “wrong.” Whenever we think that we are right, we are filled with opinions and self-justification. For us to be built together in the church, and for us to participate in the Lord’s building work, we must realize, “I am terrible. I am so far away from God. I am so sinful, so evil, so short, so weak, and so defeated. I am so rebellious, even against the Lord Himself. I am just a terrible person.” Then we will not dare to voice so many opinions. At the same time we will be very open to the other saints.
Once we see light shining on ourselves, then building becomes easy. If all of us realize “I am the wrong person” when we are together with other saints, would there be any arguments? Would there be any strife? Would there be any opinions? If some leading brothers are together and have the Lord’s light shining on themselves, would there be any competition or struggling between them? They would say, “We are nothing. We are only here by the Lord’s mercy.” Isn’t this precious? When we see who we are, it is easy for the church to be built up.
Adapted from The Journey of Life, page 88.
Tomorrow: “Not Wanting to Offend the Lord”