Dallas Willard says the following:in his book “Renovation of the heart”:
“We must clearly understand that there is a rigorous consistency in the human self and its actions. This is one of the things we are most likely to deceive ourselves about. If I do evil, I am the kind of person who does evil; if I do good, I am the kind of person who does good (1 John 3:7-10) Actions are expression of who we are. They come out of the heart.
One of the most common rationalizations of sin or folly today is ‘Oh, I just blew it.’ While there is some point to such a remark, it is not the one those who use it hope for. It does not exonerate them. While it may be true that there are circumstances in which I would not have done the foolish or sinful thing I did, and while what I did may not represent me fully, ‘Blowing it’ does represent me fully. I am the kind of person who ‘blows it’. “Blowing it’ shows who I am as a person. I am, through and through, the kind of person who ‘blows it’ — hardly a lovely and promising thing to be.”
What do you think of this? Is it uncompromising? Is it unfair? Is it true? After all, Jesus says that a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit. (Matt 7.17) What does this “truth” do to your soul? Does it make you angry, feel guilty, hopeless? Hopeful? Since, surely if Jesus said that, he had to have some hope that it could be possible that we could be people that don’t ‘blow it’!
I find this quite challenging! I am angry when I hear it. I am rebellious. Where is the grace? where is the hope. How could I possibly be such a person? Everybody that I know that doesn’t occasionally ‘blow it’ is an unbearable and infuriating PAIN! All my life I have been a person who blows it. I would like to be a person who doesn’t, not because it would be a notch in my belt, but because somebody who doesn’t blow it would be like Jesus: and most likely I wouldn’t be a person who hurts others.
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