Sinclair B. Ferguson

If we don't have a clear sight of the target that we want to destroy in our lives, then we will miss it.

Unless we confess to the Lord, Lord, the blemish on my Christian character and walk is called whatever it is, it's unlikely that we really will be delivered from it.

So we need to learn to name the distortion.

Here's a second principle I think that's helpful.

Write down the name of the opposite grace of your blemish.

Write down on a piece of paper the nature of your blemish, name it, and then write down opposite.

the grace, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that is the opposite of your blemish.

And I do mean write it down.

And when you have done that, commit yourself before God to seeking it.

And this is a principle that we need to keep coming back to.

You see, we're not transformed merely by avoiding the works of the flesh.

We need simultaneously to seek the fruit of the Spirit.

Just trying to get rid of the blemish may actually make it worse.

No more likely to transform me than scratching an itch that I feel is likely to make it go away.

And as you read through Paul's letters, you'll notice that he does this constantly.

We are to put off, but we're also to put on.

And here's a third principle.

we need to realize that the resources for lasting transformation are to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So having named my sinful blemish,

by naming the opposite grace, I should now turn to perhaps particularly the Gospels and read about the Lord Jesus Christ and see how that opposite grace is manifested in his life and pray the simple prayer, Lord God, make me more like my Lord Jesus Christ.