The authentic mark of the man or woman who has genuinely been touched by the grace of God is a profound sense of personal worthlessness.
There is something about confronting absolute holiness which makes us painfully aware of the contrast between God and ourselves. We feel suddenly naked and exposed as God looks through all our masks and pretenses, our hypocrisies and conceits, to the ugliness deep within us. How ironic that religion is so often connected with pride, for true relationship with God can never foster arrogance.
Your first emotional response to being in the presence of God will not be awe or gratitude but shame... shame for what you are; shame for what you have failed to be; shame for ever thinking you had anything to be proud of.
Shame was Job’s response to the presence of God. “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:5-6
Shame was Isaiah’s response to a vision of God. “‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’” Isaiah 6:5
Shame was Peter’s response after witnessing Jesus’ power. “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Luke 5:8
To many people, shame is itself something of which to be ashamed. They resist the feeling, thinking that anyone who is bad enough to feel shame is too bad for the mercies of God.
In reality, the opposite is true. Only those who are overwhelmed by their shame and unworthiness can be touched by God. It is those who mourn who will be comforted. Only he who “hates his life” will keep it for eternity.
We label someone a psychopath who commits horrible crimes without shame or remorse. What label should we then we apply to one who sins in less conspicuous ways, yet still has no shame before God? The difference between the two is only a difference of degree, not of kind. As we stand before God, the only attitude which is not psychopathic is a crushing sense of our own sinfulness and a passionate gratitude for God’s mercy.
Nothing is quite so sad as someone putting on airs or thinking themselves better than they really are. Jesus told many stories about such people... none more contrasting than that of a tax collector and a Pharisee who were praying (Luke 18:9-14). The object of that story was the importance of seeing ourselves as God sees us. The essence of true religion... is learning to see ourselves as God sees us.
God is the great forgiver. There is no sin which he cannot forgive. There is no wrong too great for his mercy to cover. However, there is one thing that can separate us from the mercy of God - our blindness to our need for forgiveness.
Of all the sins of man, the one most loathsome to God is that of self-righteousness and hypocrisy which keeps us from confessing our sins and falling on his mercy alone. It is never the sinfulness of man which constrains God’s forgiveness, but rather man’s unwillingness to admit he is a sinner.
Remember that your standing before God has nothing to do with your worthiness and everything to do with God’s mercy. It is better to agonize over your sin than to gloat over your righteousness.
He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” Luke 16:15
