The Corruption of the Self-Life 2

Recognizing the evil within

God often allows times of pressure to come into our lives to bring up from within us our corrupt self-life, so that we begin to see ourselves as we really are. It is fairly easy for us to consider ourselves spiritual when our circumstances are easy. When we have no problems to tackle, when no body is irritating us, when things are going smoothly and our co-workers are congenial, we can deceive ourselves concerning the real state of our hearts. But wait till we get a co-worker who irritates us, or a neighbor who annoys us all the time, and the veneer of spirituality disappears. Our self-life will then manifest itself in all its ugliness.

This was what happened to the elder son. When his younger brother was honored, he got upset. No one would ever have thought that this elder son could have behaved so peevishly. He had appeared such a nice person all along. But he hadn't faced pressure like this before. Now, his real nature was manifested. It was not the provocation at that moment that made him evil, no, the provocation merely brought up to the surface what was within all the time.

Amy Carmichael has said, "A cup brimful of sweet water cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, however suddenly jolted". If bitter water comes out of our lives and our lips, it is because it has always been there. It is not the provocation or the irritation that makes us bitter or unspiritual. They only bring out of us what is already within. And so it should make us deeply thankful to God that He allows such times to come upon our lives when we see the corruption of our natures. If it were not for such occasions, we might never realize that there is a fountain of corruption within us, and that not one good thing dwells in our flesh.

This also teaches us that suppression is not victory. One person may explode in anger in a trying situation, while another, (with a little more self control), in a similar situation, may only boil inwardly, without any steam escaping through his lips! In mens's eyes, the second person may have a reputation for meekness. But God who sees the hearts knows that both men boiled within and considers both equally bad. The difference in their external conduct was merely a result of different temperaments, which matter nothing to God.

Suppression is not victory. God does not want us merely to appear delivered and spiritual - but to be actually delivered. Paul said, "It is no longer I, but Christ Who lives in me" (Gal.2:20). This is the point to which God wants to bring us.

In the next article, let us look at the characteristics of the self-life in two aspects.

1. Its attitude to God, and

2. Its attitude to its fellowmen

We see both of these illustrated in the story of the elder son.

The above lesson has been taken from the book "Beauty from Ashes" by Zac Poonen.