The religious world matches our natural man’s desire for self-confidence and self-development. Religion is very good at encouraging us to develop ourselves, and our natural man yearns for such development.
Peter illustrates this. He confidently declared that he had left all to follow the Lord and deserved something in return (Matt. 19:27). Peter’s boat and house were no doubt of very little value, even when compared to other boats and houses, yet it seems that he felt no shame in asking what he would get in return for his meager sacrifice. This has always puzzled me. Why are we Christians so confident like this? And why does the Lord receive such declarations from us? We tell Him how much we love Him and that we will give up everything for Him. He never says, “You are lying.” We shed tears and confess our love to Him and then immediately leave His presence to do something separate from Him, yet He continues to love us, whether or not we know how to love Him properly in return.
Adapted from Ruth: Growth Unto Maturity, page 82.
Tomorrow: “Our Self-Confidence Replaces Christ”