How can I live a Gospel-centered life?

That’s impossible.  I need faith for that.  Faith is a gift from Above, not something I exercise, like a muscle.  The starting place for fresh faith, is fresh conviction of sin.  I cannot convict myself of my sin, cannot make myself repent, and I get zero credit for doing anything in a Gospel-centered way – a fruit-of-the-Spirit way.  I need Jesus’ Spirit to freshly convict me of me-centered living, so I can temporarily live a Jesus-centered life.  And because of the world, flesh, devil, I am easily snookered back into me-centered living.  Being Gospel-centered is not a theology of the the Christian life to which I can ascribe – apply to my life, so as to make a difference in the way I live.  Being Gospel-centered is not a fruit of hearing Gospel-centered preaching/teaching, unless the Spirit works.  Being Gospel-centered is not something I can make happen on my own.  I need to be rescued from Above from being me-centered.  And it doesn’t last long.  Nobody is Gospel-centered without the Spirit’s fresh work.  No believer gets credit for being Gospel-centered, evidencing the fruit of the Spirit – amazing humility, and a love that melts hearts, even of enemies.

One thing I CAN do, is to ask for the Spirit to convict me afresh of me-centeredness, maybe claiming the promise of Luke 11.  But the timetable for that prayer being answered, is not up to me.

–ShepherdDave, needing fresh faith/dependency/Gospel-centeredness – cluelessness about what’s best for him and others, so he’ll be operating as DumbSheepDave for a bit, so possessed by Jesus that the pre-believers around him are wowed by the difference Jesus makes

To receive my weekly updates, email me, or search for GospelFriendships (one word) on Facebook, and “like” the page, then under the like button, select “get notifications”, or, subscribe to my blog: dumbsheepdave.com