The remark was made during a debate about conversion therapy. I agree that manipulation and coercion are wrong. But if we consider the remarks in more general terms, what was said highlights a misconception that is widespread today: that we are inherently good and do not need anything to change us for the better. Indeed, we find the very suggestion that we should change to be deeply offensive.
The Bible challenges this rose-tinted view of humanity by shining a light on the true reality of our hearts. We are all broken. We all need to be fixed.
The ancient Jewish prophet Jeremiah put it like this: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind” (Jeremiah 17:9,10). We may be able to hide our darker thoughts from others, but our Creator God sees us for what we are. The Bible is clear that each of us has a sinful nature. We all have the tendency to selfishness, pride, lust and greed.
The apostle John wrote, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). I wonder, are you deceiving yourself? Regardless of our gender, skin colour, religion or social status, we are all tainted by sin. Sin is not trivial. It is rebellion against God, who has only ever been good and merciful to us, as shown by the giving of His own Son, Jesus Christ, for us. God will one day judge our sin. Rather than feigning innocence, it would be wiser to humbly admit our problem.
Religious ritual and psychological therapy are not the answer to our sinful nature. We need the Lord Jesus, God’s only Son. He alone can free us from the sins that enslave us. He promised, “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). I, along with millions of other believers, can testify to the truth of this verse. He will truly set you free when you come to Him in humble repentance and faith.
The Lord Jesus can do this because when He died on the cross, He took the punishment which mankind’s rebellion deserves. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). When a person places their faith in Christ alone to save them, the Holy Spirit enters them and they are made “a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). God begins to transform their life to be marked by love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and self-control (Galatians 5:22,23). Jesus promised: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). God is not interested in stale, theoretical religion. He wants to infuse our sinful hearts with eternal life, radically changing us by His almighty power, so that from now on our lives will bring refreshment and blessing to this broken, hurting world.
God is waiting to do this heart-transforming work in each of our lives. We need it more than anything else. But we will never experience it if we do not first admit our problem. We all need to be fixed.
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