The more God uses us,
the less we think of ourselves
“The sacrifices of God are a
broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will
not despise.”
Psalm 51:17.
If you and I have a broken spirit, all idea of
our own importance is gone. What is the use of a broken heart?
Why, much the same as the use of a broken pot, or a broken jug,
or a broken bottle! Men throw it on the dunghill! Hence David
says, “A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not
despise,’’ as if he felt that everybody else would despise it.
Now, do you feel that you are of no importance? Though you know
that you are a child of God, do you feel that you would not give
a penny for yourself? You would not wish to claim the first
place. The rear rank suits you best and you wonder that you are
in the Lord’s army in any rank at all. Oh, Brothers and Sisters,
I believe that the more God uses us, the
less we shall think of ourselves, and the more He fills us with
His Spirit, the more will our own spirit sink within us in utter
amazement that He should ever make use of such broken vessels as
we are! Well now, indulge that feeling of nothingness and
unimportance! Not only indulge it as a feeling, but go and act
upon it! And be you in the midst of your Brothers and Sisters
less than the least—humble yourselves in wonder that God should
permit your name to stand on the roll of His elect at all.
Admire the Grace of God to you and marvel at it in deep
humiliation of spirit. That is part of the sacrifice that God
will not despise!
- C. H. Spurgeon, Repentance After Conversion,
No. 2419
