Sins List?

      Don't worry - I'm not going to publish a running sins list :)...however, I have been thinking about my sin a lot more than usual lately.  And I don't mean that in a bad way.  I'm feeling convicted - not condemned.
      I want to lead a blameless life.  There was a time where I found the word blameless frustrating because I had it associated with perfection, which - though God's word tells us to strive for perfection, we all know is actually impossible on this side of heaven.  I do believe, however, that God's word indicates that we can lead blameless lives.  Though I am still in the process of figuring out exactly what that means, I have a feeling it has a lot to do with bringing our sin before the Lord on a regular basis.  I just started reading a book called "Respectable Sins" by Jerry Bridges - I am only half way through the first chapter and I'm already feeling excited.  Yes, a book about sins is exciting me.  The book, so far, seems to be focusing on how much the gospel applies to our daily lives.  It is easy to think that the gospel is for non-believers and forget how much we need to hear it.  He died for us.  Not for our neighbor (though He died for them too), not for our family (yes, of course he died for them too), not for the blatant sinner that we may or may not spend time judging and feeling sorry for (yes, He died for them too) - but for US.  Really, "us" doesn't even communicate the point of what I'm trying to say. He died for me! (When read by me, the "me" means me...when read by you the "me" means you.) I am coming to believe that we/I spend way too much time thinking how much others need to hear the gospel, and way too little time thinking how much we/I need to hear the gospel.

     I have thoroughly enjoyed the practice of counting my blessings and I hope that I do it for the rest of my life.   The Lord pours them out abundantly.  But as I have begun to do so, my love for Him is growing,  and so is my  vision of who He is.  He is so perfect, so pure.  Next to his purity, my sin is becoming so much more obvious. Thankfully, he has paid the price for my sin!  I think, for me though,  the temptation is to think - ok, good - sin paid for.  Next.  However, lately (perhaps because of "Respectable Sins", I have started (and this is definitely a new thing) to think through my transgressions and confess them individually. Here is a list of the "Respectable Sins" that Jerry Bridges mentions - these are sins that we each are full of yet can easily forget about.ungodliness

anxiety and frustration

discontentment

unthankfulness

pride(fulness, revealed specifically in self-righteousness, even in a pursuit of theological accuracy, in prideful motives behind our achievements and revealed in a spirit of independence)

selfishness (with our interests, time, money and inconsiderateness)

lack of self-control (in eating, drinking and temperament, finances, entertainment and shopping)

impatience and irritability

anger (even anger towards God) and
the weeds of anger (underlying roots of anger in resentment, bitterness, enmity, hostility and holding grudges

judgmentalism (and a critical spirit over differing convictions and doctrinal disagreements)
envy, jealousy, competitiveness and being controlling

sins of the tongue (like gossip, slander, lying, harsh words, sarcasm, insults and ridicule)

worldliness (shown financially, by our idolatry and in “vicarious immorality,” that is, the enjoyment of watching or reading the sinfulness of others)

Over the past couple of days I have prayed through the list (not necessarily the whole thing) and gotten more specific than the descriptive word for the sin (as Bridges encourages us to do).  In other words I don't say "God forgive me for my lack patience" but something more like "God forgive me for snapping at Blake when he really needed a hug...I am an impatient person in need of your forgiveness"
Though it would be easy to read through the list and get discouraged,  to do so would be missing the whole point.  No, we should not ignore these sinful attitudes and actions, we should bring them before the thrown.  Once we do so, the list looks a bit more like:

ungodliness

anxiety and frustration

discontentment

unthankfulness

pride(fulness, revealed specifically in self-righteousness, even in a pursuit of theological accuracy, in prideful motives behind our achievements and revealed in a spirit of independence)

selfishness (with our interests, time, money and inconsiderateness)

lack of self-control (in eating, drinking and temperament, finances, entertainment and shopping)

impatience and irritability

anger (even anger towards God) and

the weeds of anger (underlying roots of anger in resentment, bitterness, enmity, hostility and holding grudges

judgmentalism (and a critical spirit over differing convictions and doctrinal disagreements)

envy, jealousy, competitiveness and being controlling

sins of the tongue (like gossip, slander, lying, harsh words, sarcasm, insults and ridicule)

worldliness (shown financially, by our idolatry and in “vicarious immorality,” that is, the enjoyment of watching or reading the sinfulness of others)

Does that mean that we won't continue to struggle with these sins?  No, of course not.  We are all sinners and will always be on this side of heaven.  However bringing our sin before God reminds us of our desperate need for the gospel (and hopefully keeps us humble and less tempted to judge others).  He has paid the price for our sins, once and for all - but we need to be reminded regularly.  The gospel isn't just for unbelievers - it is for us.  It is for me.

P.S. See "comments" for some pretty incredible verses regarding sin