Born Free: 16 Principles to Help You Be FreeVoorbeeld

Principle 11: Dirt is Fixable, but Stiffness Will Kill You

Here’s another freedom-producing power principle: It is easier to hug a dirty kid than it is to hug a stiff kid. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, / A broken and contrite heart— / These, O God, You will not despise” (Psalm 51:17).

"Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14).

I was in the study reading one day when Sara, a teenager in the church, opened the door and walked in. She didn’t even knock. No respect for the clergy! I put the book down and said, “What is it, Sara?” She said, “I was at a Bible study last night and I learned something important. I learned that you can’t hug a stiff kid.”

I thought about that for a moment and decided she was right. You can’t. Have you ever tried to hug a sullen teenager? It's like hugging a telephone pole. I told Sara that I would probably use her observation in a sermon sometime. I picked up my book, hoping that she would take the hint and leave. But she didn’t. She just stood there smiling. I said, “Okay, Sara, what else?” She said, “I learned something else last night. After the Bible study, I went to babysit a little two-year-old boy. The dirtiest kid I have ever seen. When I went into his room, he lifted his arms to be hugged. I found out, Steve, that it is easier to hug a dirty kid than it is to hug a stiff kid.”

Have you ever had one of those experiences when you understood something for the first time? After Sara left, the Father spoke to me and said, “Child, your dirt is fixable. That is what the Cross is about. It is your stiffness that will kill you. I will hug you when you’re dirty, but I will never hug you when you are stiff.”

Read Luke 7:36-50. It is one of those dynamite texts in the Bible. The stiffness is the problem, not the dirt.