Revival Anyone?

The longer I remain in fulltime ministry, the more I see my own sin. As I am continually confronted with the problems of God's children, I see that I share in their misery. Perhaps, at times, mine is a little more dressed up than theirs, but it is there nonetheless. At the beginning of this year I was challenged by the beloved Jonathan Edwards:

8. Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and to let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God.
- Jonathan Edwards' Resolutions; And Advice to Young Converts pg.18

As we exhort and challenge one another in the things of God, let us never forget that the beginning of understanding any biblical doctrine is to understand our own sin. It is then and only then that we will see scripture properly in the light of His grace. When we understand our own sinfullness, His sovereignty is a "duh."

If we, as the body of Christ, would grasp the concept of how sinful we are, we would focus less on the sin of others, more on the holiness and grace of God and we would see world-wide revival.