Guilt

A thought process aided by Bonhoeffer's Creation and Fall...

I was pondering yesterday how temptation seems to be strongest when you are on your own. Introspection, self-absorption, lust, laziness, pride... All seem to hit me, at least, when I'm by myself.

Then I had a sudden flash: what does that tell me about my sinfulness?

It tells me that the source, fountainhead and spring of all that is wrong and corrupt in my life is not out there but in here. I am the sinner. The blame cannot be shifted in any way, not even to the devil or all his angels. Sin comes out of my heart, because that is where it begins. I could explain all of the things that led up to my sin, all of the contributory circumstances, but would still at the end of the day have to say 'I sinned'. Nobody made me. None of the circumstances caused it. It was all me.

Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!