This is what sin is all about. Sin is all about promising us satisfaction, but it never keeps its promises. It can’t, because we weren’t made to satisfy ourselves. No, all sin does is blind us to the truth… We were made to find our satisfaction in a loving relationship with God, but sin convinces us to spend our lives in a self-loving relationship with ourselves. The tragedy is that in the end it doesn’t even work. Sin leaves us bitter, empty, and filled with regret. Worst of all, it leaves us outside the love of God, the one thing that could have satisfied us. It leaves us exposed to His righteous anger that was provoked by our decision to love anything and everything except Him, the one and only who was worthy of our love.
— Michael Lawrence (b. 1966), Pastor, Theologe und Autor
Topics: Temptation & Struggle, Guilt & Forgiveness, Meaning & Identity
Occasions: For Reflection
Michael Lawrence
Michael Lawrence (* 1966) ist ein US-amerikanischer reformiert-baptistischer Theologe und Pastor, der nach langjährigem Dienst in Washington, D.C., seit 2010 die Hinson Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon, leitet. Er steht in Verbindung mit Netzwerken wie The Gospel Coalition und 9Marks für das Anliegen, akademisch fundierte biblische Theologie für die praktische Gemeindearbeit und Seelsorge nutzbar zu machen. Für Bibelleser bietet er Orientierung darin, die gesamte Heilige Schrift als zusammenhängende, auf Jesus Christus ausgerichtete Heilsgeschichte zu verstehen.
All quotes by Michael Lawrence (18)
The devil is a better theologian than any of us, and he is still a devil.
A.W. Tozer
Discipline is choosing what you want most over what you want now.
Craig Groeschel
Martin Luther
Fyodor Dostoevsky
And Satan trembles when he sees, the weakest saint upon his knees.
William Cowper
Our old man is crucified, but he is long at dying.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Dante Alighieri
Gilbert Keith Chesterton