Thurs. Aug 27
"THE INTEGRITY OF THE UPRIGHT WILL GUIDE THEM." (PROVERBS 11:3 NKJV)
Integrity (2)
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We all suffer from something psychologist call "fundamental attribution error." It works like this: if something good happens in my life I tend to explain it by taking credit for it. But if I fail, I explain it by blaming my circumstances. If I do well on a test I think it's because I'm smart; if I do poorly, it's because I was distracted. If people like my sermon it's because I'm a good preacher; if they don't it's because they're too shallow. What makes the fundamental attribution error even worse is the way we explain the behavior of other people, while explaining our own bad behavior in terms of mitigating circumstances. We say other people's bad behavior is because of that would exhaust the patience of Job. If you yell at your child, it's obvious that you need to see an anger management counselor. If I get a speeding ticket, it's because the policed needed to fill their quota so they set up a trap when they should have been out catching criminals. If you get a speeding ticket, it shows you're not qualified to be behind the wheel.
What's the solution to the fundamental attribution error? The way of grace and repentance. We need God's help to see the truth about ourselves. And He gives it to us in three ways: (a) Through prayer. (b) Through reading and applying His Word. (c) Through people who love and know us well; people who don't tell us what we want to hear but what we need to hear.
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