Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
JAMES 1:17
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
1 CORINTHIANS 6:19-20
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of HIS glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through HIS Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
EPHESIANS 3:14-19
Individualistic: favoring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control.
Entitled: believing oneself to be inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.
Fundamentally, individualism is a belief that the individual is an end in themself. Consequently, individuals are obligated to realize and find the self and cultivate their own judgment, regardless of social pressure encouraging conformity.
Simply Psychology
THE EFFECTS OF A “ME” MENTALITY
2. Relationships
3. Conformity
4. Mental Healthy
Those from individualistic cultures have smaller and less satisfying support networks, less skill in managing both self and others’ emotions, lower intentions to seek help from family and friends for personal and suicidal problems, and higher levels of hopelessness and suicide ideation than those from collectivist cultures (Scott 2004). For both societies and individuals, individualistic cultures and cultures that are becoming more individualistic have seen rates of mental illness and suicide climb (Eskin et. al. 2020).
Simply Psychology
He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.
MATTHEW 10:39
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
MATTHEW 16:25
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
MATTHEW 16:26
But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
PHILIPPIANS 3:7-8
You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price.
1 CORINTHIANS 6:19b-20a
RIGHTEOUSNESS
“Spiritual disciples are not about doing the right things in order to gain approval from God. They are about order our life in a way that reflects already being approved by God.”
and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
MATTHEW 3:17
23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.[g] 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.[h] 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant[i] fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii,[j] and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,[k] until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
MATTHEW 18:23-35
TOTAL DEPRAVITY.
In short, the reality of total depravity leaves no possibility of salvation by our own efforts. It points to our dire condition from the fall and the sovereign work of God in rescuing us. Only the Holy Spirit can change us and transform us into the image of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God. This is a (should be) cause for unbounded thanksgiving to God and delight in his grace and goodness in Christ.
ROBERT LETHAM
“The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?
JEREMIAH 17:9
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
ROMANS 6:23
18 Therefore, as one trespass[f] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness[g] leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
ROMANS 6:18-19
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
EPHESIANS 2:8-9
But unless the weight of the burden [sin] is felt the gospel can mean nothing to the man; and until he sees a vision of God high and lifted up, there will be no woe and no burden. Low views of God destroy the gospel for all who hold them.”
A.W. TOZER
“In order to live in the freedom we truly have by receiving a righteousness that’s not our own, we must understand how unrighteous we are without God’s help.”
J.A. WILSON
Some never knew they were out o...
