maturity

We had a creative worship night at the Gathering tonight, and it was phenomenal.  I loved it so very much.  At one of the stations people wrote down things they wanted to repent of or let go of on a rock, and then dropped it into a clear tub full of water, to symbolize our sins being banished to the ocean floor.  I walked up to this station after the first service and I was simply amazed.  As I looked down, the most common things that people were repenting of were things like:

*Pride

*Selfishness

*Self-reliance

*My need to impress people

*Identity issues

…and other things of that nature.  I bet I saw “pride” at least ten times.  I found myself overwhelmed, almost to the point of tears, and so unbelievably encouraged.  “People are grasping the Gospel,” I said to myself.  People are seeing the deep, ugly roots of their sin and repenting at a gut level–not just from the outward symptoms.  It really is happening.  Maturity.  Growth.  People who were once far from Christ are being transformed to His image through the Holy Spirit.  How beautiful it is to see a family grow in this way.

I thank God for people to grow and mature with.  I thank Him for people that push me on to repent of my deeper issues, who refuse to just let me paddle around in the murky shallows.  Its good to know I have people who love me enough to push me out into the depths where my sin is the ugliest, because they know that the cleansing found there is the only way I’ll ever be truly free.