A.W. Tozer: Dispositional Sins

A convicting but important word from Tozer. Many sins that actually are greatly offensive to God and others are often brushed off as "innocent" quirks. Tozer thought otherwise, and today I want to learn the lesson he brings.

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
--Ephesians 4:31

Dispositional sins are fully as injurious to the Christian cause as the more overt acts of wickedness. These sins are as many as the various facets of human nature. Just so there may be no misunderstanding let us list a few of them: Sensitiveness, irritability, churlishness, faultfinding, peevishness, temper, resentfulness, cruelty, uncharitable attitudes; and of course there are many more. These kill the spirit of the church and slow down any progress that the gospel may be making in the community.

Many persons who had been secretly longing to find Christ have been turned away and embittered by manifestations of ugly dispositional flaws in the lives of the very persons who were trying to win them....

Unsaintly saints are the tragedy of Christianity. People of the world usually pass through the circle of disciples to reach Christ, and if they find those disciples severe and sharp-tongued they can hardly be blamed if they sigh and turn away from Him....The low state of religion in our day is largely due to the lack of public confidence in religious people.

Love Each Other

But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Mt 22:34-40) The mark of a Christian is love, loving God and loving people. If we love God, we will love others also. This doesn't mean we don't speak the truth, but it does mean that we speak it lovingly, concerned for others and intent on practicing what we preach. May we love God and others today!