“Be patient with me; God’s not finished with me yet.” So said the woman with a coy smile and lilting inflection in her voice. The worn out bumper-sticker slogan had come to the rescue of yet another Christian caught in an embarrassing situation. I responded with a weak “Uh-huh” and watched her walk away. I’ve never liked the slogan, nor did I like the woman’s flippant use of it. It reflects a self-indulgent attitude that dismisses what we know to be wrong about our character; an excuse we make because “that’s just the way I am.” We have rough edges, kind of like a block of wood that needs a just a bit of fine sanding. We’re a fine, translucent china cup, faintly blemished.

Wrong. If that’s the view we have, we’re deceiving ourselves. Jeremiah (17:9) reminds us, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Here’s the answer: “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Our so-called ‘rough edges’ are more than that. They’re an indication of what’s inside, and that’s what needs the continual sanctifying cleansing of the Holy Spirit, not just a little external tweaking. What’s abundant in our heart works its way outward through our speech and actions (Luke 6:43-45, actually the whole chapter). In my personal experience it doesn’t take reading very much scripture before I’m confronted with issues of my heart that need to be dealt with. Why is it that I’m often content to pat down the conviction and solace myself with the thought that I’m not as bad as a lot of people? Like a big sliver in the finger, if I’m content to let it stay there, it will eventually gather pus and need to be painfully and ruthlessly extracted. Why wait? Why not run immediately to the Fountain of mercy and grace?

God isn’t finished with us yet; that’s what sanctification is all about (1 Thess. 5:23). But let’s not excuse ourselves with flip cliches that shield us from the acknowledgment of sin in our hearts and undermine the work of God necessary for its removal. Thank God for the certainty that he who began this good work in us will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6)!