Wednesday, November 23, 2005

"As soon as a Christian recognizes that he has failed in his service, that his readiness has become feeble, and that he has sinned against another's life and become guilty of another's guilt, that all his joy in God has vanished and that his capacity for prayer has quite gone, it is high time for him to launch an assault upon the flesh, and prepare for better service by fasting and prayer (Luke 2.37; 4.2; Mark 9.29; I Cor. 7.5).... How is it possible to live the life of faith when we grow weary of prayer, when we lose our taste for reading the Bible, and when sleep, food and sensuality deprive us of the joy of communion with God?" -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

5 comments:

.:Alix:. said...

WOW girl. That pretty much hit home. Thanks
luv ya

rachel elizabeth said...

so i am readin' along - thinkin "hmm nice quote" but pretty much "meh"...until

"and when sleep, food and sensuality deprive us of the joy of communion with God?"

that was like a club across the head.
Totally convicted me.

I echo the Miss above "pretty much hit home"

theDING said...

So, I'm writng this two days later than raeh and I'm thinking that this is a great quote and it is really convicting...

However, I have just been to two events at which "food and sensuality" have increased my communion with God.

Go figure.

The part that hit me was the beginning about "failing in service" and "becoming guilty of another's guilt".

Whenever conviction like this hits, I am glad that I am part of a body of Christ that helps me up instead of shoots me when I'm down.

I hope that we are real enough to each other and humble enough to actually help each other instead of just talk to each other's mask...

K said...

what does that mean---> becoming guilty of another's guilt...

doxasky said...

kal, there's probably a lot to that, but one thing that I think of is if someone teaches another false truth intentionally, they have sinned against that person and will be held accountable for the other's actions. I think that's right anyways.
Anyone else have any thoughts on this?