Posted by A B Locke
“His sharp words changed my life for the better and liberated me forever.”
All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Rom. 3:12
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; … Is. 64:6
In essence, my Father declared me worthless, good for nothing, and on my best behavior, He said I was a filthy rag. If you have to get chastised or “called on the carpet”, better that it comes from a loving father, and even better, your heavenly Father and Creator.
…because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. Prov. 3:12
This was one of the most liberating revelations I have ever experienced, that is, once I fully understood the context of my Father’s words. I want all those who are feeling injured, victimized, judged, slandered, betrayed and ridiculed to experience this joy and freedom that I now have in Christ.
As for this blog post title, I thought long and hard and tried to come up with a less provocative adjective — one that would capture the full passion of my heart, but everything I thought of seemed inadequate.
The “word” I chose is widely used in modern conversation and, without question, we all know exactly what it means to say someone “ain’t $%#@!.” By far, I think this is perhaps the lowest insult you can speak to someone. Ironically, my Father laid it on me. Now that I feel you understand where I am coming from, I will use the word “crap” going forward.
The good thing about being at rock-bottom is that you can only go up from there. If my heavenly Father considers me crap, worthless and good for nothing, then any insult from an ordinary human being should actually be a compliment. Their measly insults definitely shouldn’t hurt any more than the words of my Dad.
This is where the supernatural power of God intervened, ignited, and boosted my confidence in Him. Understanding how I actually appeared in the mind of God, took the sting and power from all human insults. It was amazing. To be slandered and called all sorts of derogatory names by my family, friends, neighbors, and “enemies children of the world” suddenly had much less of an impact on me. The weapons of the enemy had been completely disarmed by the words of my Father.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? Rom. 8:31
With this new revelation and mind transformation, I could understand and apply Matthew 5:11 to my life:
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Many of us who follow Christ get upset, angry, frustrated, and hurt when people speak against “what we believe and feel about ourselves.” We quickly take it personally. We act like we are good and innocent of all wrongdoing. But I get it now. Apart from Christ, I am all that my accusers say I am, and worse. But I no longer feel the need or desire to defend myself. Instead, I pray for them. The sad reality is, that my accusers are “the pot calling the kettle black.” They are self-righteous, calling me self-righteous. They are judgmental, calling me judgmental. They are unloving, calling me unloving. They are the hypocrite calling me the hypocrite.
These verses also allowed me to see the horror of my wicked character through the eyes of my Father:
The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. Gen. 6:5-6
This is an accurate assessment of humanity’s immoral condition, coming from someone I can trust completely, my Father. In spite of man’s arrogant and erroneous assessment of himself, God contends that every thought from his heart is constantly evil.
We have all become worthless — No one is good, not even one
Here is a Bible passage that “keeps it 100.” According to Romans 3:10-18, there are no good people. The notion that there are good people on this earth goes directly against the word of God. God declared us all worthless and good for nothing. Sounds like a pile of crap to me. God’s assessment of humanity is a direct result of Adam’s sin. Because of that, we were unclean and unsuitable for God’s use. This is what makes us worthless in God’s sight.
As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
There is much truth in this passage to digest. It all comes down to whether we are going to rely on our “common sense” or God’s word.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Prov. 3:5-8
Many still insist that they are good people, in spite of what God says
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good — except God alone. Mark 10:18
Jesus said that to be good, is to be God. Most people would never suggest that they are God, but would not hesitate to say that they are good, or that they know some good people. There is a huge contradiction in that notion. I am definitely not God and I am also not good, according to the words of my heavenly Father.
Knowing what God has revealed to me about myself, I get uncomfortable when people try to place me in their bogus category of “good people.” They obviously have no clue of my depraved condition and what sin has done to me.
My Father told me that apart from Him, I could do absolutely nothing. How insulting is that? Not at all, coming from the Father who I know genuinely loves me. He is absolutely right. I cannot do anything right without Him.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
The apostle Paul wrote most of the New Testament Bible. He was born into the royal family of Jews, and highly educated in the Law of Moses. Paul was esteemed among his peers, but Paul considered it all trash/crap/animal feces in contrast to the opportunity afforded him to know Christ.
… If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ Phil. 3:4-8
Paul was a man after God’s heart, but he was totally aware of the wickedness that existed in him, and he was transparent with this truth.
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. Rom. 7:18-21
Because of God’s love, power, kindness, and mercy, He can, and does take crap like me and transforms it into the image of His Son, so that He alone gets all the glory. Appropriately, I get absolutely no credit. God has been transforming lives for many years — since Adam sinned in the garden of Eden. That is what He has been doing with us and many of the people we, unfortunately, have given up on.
I enjoy so many benefits today, the best is the gift of eternal life, but they are all made available to me because of my relationship with my Father through His Son, Jesus.
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Is. 1:18
Loving you more