“Thus doth the soul commit fornication, when she turns from Thee, seeking without Thee, what she findeth not pure and untainted until she returns to Thee. Thus all pervertedly imitate Thee who remove far from Thee, and lift themselves up against Thee. But even by thus imitating Thee, they imply Thee to be the Creator of all nature…”
~St. Augustine from his Confessions
What is sin, Augustine asks, but the fading shadow, the poor imitation of that which can be found in Christ alone? Is it not the attempt to wrest from God the attributes that are His alone?
Our pride but a poor imitation of His exaltedness; our ambition but a poor striving for the honour and glory that belongs to Him alone. Our immorality a poor counterfeit of His genuine love.
Augustine goes on–Our curiosity a pretense of His omniscience. Our sloth an attempt at rest apart from Him. Our gluttony mimicking the satisfaction that can only be found in Him.
Sin is me trying to live life on my own, not acknowledging that Christ is the only source of true life. Sin is me trying to exalt myself, not acknowledging that Christ is the only one truly worthy of exaltation. Sin is me trying to become wise, not acknowledging that Christ is the only source of wisdom.
Looking at sin through Augustine’s eyes, I see the sins I so regularly excuse.
Self-improvement. The sin of trying to be sanctified without God’s Spirit.
Goal-orientedness. The sin of fixing my eyes on outcomes rather than Christ.
All of it Pride. Pretending I can live, can survive, can thrive with me at the center rather than Christ.
But I am a poor counterfeit, a tainted instrument. What I find in myself is only a warped copy of what can be found only in Christ.
Oh, Lord, forgive me for my sin of spiritual fornication, for seeking in myself what can only be found in You. Turn my eyes, my heart from these fleshly things that I might better see and savor You.
“Oh! that Thou wouldst enter into my heart, and inebriate it, that I may forget my ills, and embrace Thee, my sole good?”
~St. Augustine from his Confessions
Collect more quotes from throughout the week with Barbara H’s meme “The Week in Words”.
Why am I always so surprised when my SIN traces back to the roots of PRIDE…every time? Sigh!
Very searching and convicting.
Yes, our pride keeps us from that deep growing relatioship with our Lord. It is a nasty thing that always seems to creep up in most all of us.
wonderful WiW!
Wow–I’m not sure I would have gotten all that good stuff from that quote–very perceptive of you. Pride–it’s such a horrible thing and so hard to kill. It’s definitely at the root of one of my more frequent sins of worrying. I love your prayer and pray it for myself as well.
Lisa-I can’t take too much credit for all the “good stuff” in this post. Most of it is a paraphrase of the paragraphs surrounding the quotes I posted.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how readable this book is. I expected it to be pretty obtuse, and maybe a bit dry. But it isn’t at all. Yay! =)