Hello friends, welcome to In Bolden. I'm Chris Shatter, an ordinary Christian living with and learning about an extraordinary God. In the book of Jude we read about the grumblers and the fault-finders following their own evil desires and boasting about themselves. I find the best way not to be a grumbler and a fault-finder which I struggle with is instead to look for ways to be thankful and grateful.
That's why on The In Bolden Podcast we're doing 30 Days of Thankfulness. Please join me. Today's thankful verse comes from Lamentations 3.22. Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed for his compassion never fail.
You know, I've made a lot of mistakes in my life. Mistakes that have hurt my husband, my children, others I love, friends, strangers, and even myself. My sin seemed to pile up each day, the cessation of which I seem wholly unable to accomplish, and I know I'm not alone. We are a fallen, sinful lot as humans.
If we were to take a moment right now to think about just last week, how many times did we tell a lot no matter how small? How many times did we demand to be first rather than last? How many times did we put our pride over another's need? How many days have gone by that you haven't forgiven your mother, sister, friend, or even that stranger who cut you off on the road?
Psalm 51 1 says, Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion, block out my transgressions. There have been a number of attempts over the years to try and convince society that the original sin is just a myth. That man is really a naturally good person. In the 1800s, a man by the name of Robert Owen decided, quote, none are or can be bad by nature, unquote.
So we set out to create a utopian socialist society in New Harmony, Indiana. That experiment lasted just three years before it collapsed. The reason? Well, sin is not the result of some outward set of problems or circumstances that cause us to go back.
No, it's because we are by nature sinful. One only need look at the answers to my questions above that, you know, explain that we just are nature is sinful. Someone was talking to me about the concept of being true to our authentic self. It was in reference to accepting immoral behavior as good and right.
But I have to tell you, my authentic self pops up throughout the day quite enough already, and it gets me into plenty of trouble. I'm just incredibly thankful that at the end of each day, as I lay my head down to sleep, I can ask for mercy and forgiveness. And it is given freely. Have a thankful day.
I hope you enjoyed this episode of The A Bolden Podcast. Be sure to follow along so you don't miss any episode. And check out my blog at embolden.net.