One main principle that I have used in raising my kids is the idea that I am training them to be independent. By that I mean that they can get along on their own without a constant coming home for advice or help. They will be able to function in the world on their own when we are not here to help. We tried to give them a good moral and academic education, and I think we met our goal. They are good kids and have made it successfully in the world without much help from us, except encouragement. They would certainly not be incapacitated if we were gone.
Here is what Chambers says this morning:
"The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount produces despair in the natural man - the very thing Jesus means it to do. As long as we have a self-righteous, conceited notion that we can carry out Our Lord's teaching, God will allow us to go on until we break our ignorance over some obstacle, then we are willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him. "Blessed are the paupers in spirit," that is the first principle in the Kingdom of God."
We study American History and we read stories of men and women who have stood tall over the years. They had the American Spirit of "can do" and they did it. We are all encouraged to have this spirit of independence, to say that we can do it. Perhaps we can use a little less of this in the spiritual realm. I don't find the proverb "God helps those who help themselves" anywhere in scripture.
In fact the psalmist says in Psalm 146, "blessed is the man whose helper is God."
We do need a helper. We cannot do it all on our own, especially in the Christian life. A dependence on Him is the key to a meaningful and successful life. An independent, can do, American attitude cannot take you into God's perfect plan, only an acknowledgment that I cannot do it all by myself. I need help.
Dependence can indeed by a virtue worth admitting.
Help me to both practice it and preach it.
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