This quote from Spurgeon sums up how to think about the charges against me:
“Brother, if any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him; for you are worse than he thinks you to be. If he charges you falsely on some point, yet be satisfied, for if he knew you better he might change the accusation, and you would be no gainer by the correction. If you have your moral portrait painted, and it is ugly, be satisfied; for it only needs a few blacker touches, and it would be still nearer the truth.” – Charles Spurgeon.
Depravity - The Bible makes my wickedness very clear. Genesis 6:5 says "every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time". I was born with a desperately wicked heart (Psalm 51:5). I have no merit of my own. Any charge you can find to bring against me, there is worse available. Much worse.
Propitiation - my favourite word (a life saver). When God calls me to Himself with a repentant heart, in simple faith, the eternal wrath of a Holy God has been removed, He has absolutely no record of anything ever having gone wrong in my life, and I am restored to relationship with Him, and treated as a son, irreversibly, and for ever (Titus 3:7).
Praise the God of restoration, praise the God who gives, and takes away. Let me always walk through life "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing" (2 Cor 6:10). I will always have sorrows, that is a fact of life, and yet in Christ I always have much more cause for rejoicing. Praise God that through these tough times he drives me closer into fellowship with other believers, and closer to the foot of his Throne in humble dependence on Him, and Him alone.Praise Him that he continues to work through broken vessels, like me.
http://www.vergenetwork.org/2014/10/20/practical-tools-for-exhorting-one-another/
(Spurgeon quote came from this very helpful article)
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