0624 自己与罪的事实和解
…现在却是你们的时候，黑暗掌权了。 《路加福音 22:53》
不与罪的事实和解——不承认它并拒绝处理它——会产生生活中的一切灾难。你可以谈论人性的崇高美德，但人性中有某个东西，在你所拥有的每个原则面前，它会当面嘲笑你。如果你拒绝承认人类内心存在着邪恶和自私，某个彻底可恨和错误的东西，当它攻击到你的生活时，你不会与它们和解，反而会向它们妥协，并说与它争战是没有用的。你是否考虑过「这个时候，黑暗掌权」，或者你对自己的看法，包括了不承认任何罪之类的东西？在你的人际关系和友谊中，你是否已经承认罪的事实？如果没有，就在下一个转角处，你会发现自己被困住，且你会与它妥协。但如果你接受罪的事实，你就会立即意识到危险，并说：「是的，我明白这个罪意味着什么。」承认罪并不会破坏友谊的基础——它只是建立了一种对事实的相互尊重：就是罪恶生活的基础是灾难性的。永远要警惕任何不承认罪恶事实的生活评估。
耶稣基督从不相信人性，但祂也从不愤世嫉俗，也不多疑，因为祂绝对相信自己为人性所能做的一切。纯洁的男人或女人，是被庇护而免受伤害的人，而不是无辜的人。所谓无辜的人永远不会安全。男人和女人不应该试图表现得无辜；神要求他们纯洁、有美德。无辜是孩童的特征。任何人如果不愿意接受罪的事实，是该受到责备的。
来自章伯斯的智慧
我没有权利说我相信神，除非我把我的生活安排在祂全知的眼下。《真的门徒》
0624 Reconciling Yourself to the Fact of Sin
This is your hour, and the power of darkness. —Luke 22:53
Not being reconciled to the fact of sin— not recognizing it and refusing to deal with it— produces all the disasters in life. You may talk about the lofty virtues of human nature, but there is something in human nature that will mockingly laugh in the face of every principle you have. If you refuse to agree with the fact that there is wickedness and selfishness, something downright hateful and wrong, in human beings, when it attacks your life, instead of reconciling yourself to it, you will compromise with it and say that it is of no use to battle against it. Have you taken this “hour, and the power of darkness” into account, or do you have a view of yourself which includes no recognition of sin whatsoever? In your human relationships and friendships, have you reconciled yourself to the fact of sin? If not, just around the next corner you will find yourself trapped and you will compromise with it. But if you will reconcile yourself to the fact of sin, you will realize the danger immediately and say, “Yes, I see what this sin would mean.” The recognition of sin does not destroy the basis of friendship— it simply establishes a mutual respect for the fact that the basis of sinful life is disastrous. Always beware of any assessment of life which does not recognize the fact that there is sin.
Jesus Christ never trusted human nature, yet He was never cynical nor suspicious, because He had absolute trust in what He could do for human nature. The pure man or woman is the one who is shielded from harm, not the innocent person. The so-called innocent man or woman is never safe. Men and women have no business trying to be innocent; God demands that they be pure and virtuous. Innocence is the characteristic of a child. Any person is deserving of blame if he is unwilling to reconcile himself to the fact of sin.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
I have no right to say I believe in God unless I order my life as under His all-seeing Eye. — Disciples Indeed,385 L