Psalm 40:17
Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.
We are poor and needy. God is our help and deliverer. The world's answer to our need is to look more at ourselves but the Bible's answer is to look at Jesus.
When we are suffering we can look to God rather than looking to ourselves for “inner strength”. When things seem to be going badly we don’t need to be told to “be strong”, but to rely on the One who is strong.
Instead of serving others and wanting acknowledgement from them (or God!), we know that Jesus is the one who served us on the cross with nothing in return, and we are happy to follow that example.
Instead of keeping track of what we've put into a relationship and what the other person owes us in return - we know that we brought nothing to the table with Jesus and he gives us everything. That motivates us to love others in a truly unconditional way.
Instead of keeping track of what we've put into a relationship and what the other person owes us in return - we know that we brought nothing to the table with Jesus and he gives us everything. That motivates us to love others in a truly unconditional way.
We are in a worse state than we ever dared to imagine, God looks at that and helps! Delivers! Saves! If we don’t recognise our need, the gospel is never going to transform us. We don’t need to convince ourselves that we are strong. We need to recognise that He is.