6 Words That Will Change Your LifeSample

Imagine it’s hot outside and you’ve been doing yard work all day. I walk up to you with a cold glass of water, and offer it to you. But before I hand it over, I take out a tablespoon full of arsenic and pour it into the glass of water. And with that, I extend the cold glass of poison-laced water to you. 

Would you drink it? Of course not! 

It takes less than a teaspoon of arsenic to kill an adult.  

In a spiritual sense, something similar happened when Adam took a bite of the forbidden fruit. That one “little” sin brought spiritual death and instantly injected depravity into the inborn nature of all humanity. From that moment on, things would never be the same.  

 That’s why we don’t have to teach children how to be bad. We have to show them how to be kind and generous.  

But as we grow up, even our good acts become a cover up. In the words of spoken word artist Propaganda, “Even our good deeds are an extension of our selfishness.” 

Think of it this way... in Adam were the seeds of all humanity. From his children would come more children, and from their children would come more children, from the beginning of time until the end of it. When Adam was corrupted, then so were his seeds. These seeds, once planted into the lineage of all humanity through the act of conception, brought physical life mixed with spiritual death. 

The day that Adam ate the forbidden fruit, he didn’t physically die—though that came later. But he did spiritually die—immediately. And in a sense, on that day, so did we. 

So don’t be surprised when a child is selfish, and don’t be shocked when someone cuts you off or flips you off in traffic. As a matter of fact, don’t be surprised when you’re selfish yourself. The depravity gene is in our DNA. No, it’s not the new you in Jesus, but it’s the old you that you still cart around in your flesh. 

Only Jesus can deliver us from the depravity at work in this world and in our flesh. He is the key to “re-Adamizing” Adam and neutralizing the soul poison that’s been passed on to us spiritually. 

Sometimes we seem surprised by the fact that people in our world are making sinful choices. Picketing and politics won’t change that. Only Jesus can change a heart from selfish to selfless. Ask God to soften your heart toward those who don’t know Him personally. Watch your attitude during the next 24 hours, and when you’re tempted to be critical—even if you feel you’re totally justified in doing so—be gracious and grace-giving instead.