A good man is willing to know the worst of himself, and particularly under affliction, desires to be told wherefore God contends with him and what God designs in correcting him.
Matthew HenryRead
Though we may now think some sins light and little, if the Lord awaken the conscience, we shall feel even the smallest sin heavy upon our souls.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Small sins can weigh heavily on our conscience if we are truly aware of their implications.
This quote by Matthew Henry suggests that what we perceive as minor transgressions may actually have profound effects on our moral and spiritual state. When one's conscience is awakened or keenly aware, even the smallest wrongdoings can trigger a sense of guilt and heaviness that reflects our moral responsibilities and the weight of sin in our lives.
Themes
SinConscienceMoralWeightAwareness
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon about moral responsibility, the pastor quoted Henry to emphasize the importance of being mindful of our actions.
More from Matthew Henry
All quotes βThere is a burden of care in getting riches; fear in keeping them; temptation in using them; guilt in abusing them; sorrow in losing them; and a burden of account at last to be given concerning them.
Matthew HenryRead
To wait on God is to live a life of desire toward Him, delight in Him, dependence on Him, and devotedness to Him.
Matthew HenryRead
Scriptures were written, not to satisfy our curiosity and make us astronomers, but to lead us to God, and make us saints.
Matthew HenryRead
What God requires of us he himself works in us, or it is not done. He that commands faith, holiness, and love, creates them by the power of his grace going along with his word, that he may have all the praise.
Matthew HenryRead
No attribute of God is more dreadful to sinners than His holiness.
Matthew HenryRead
Similar quotes
A human being would certainly not grow to be seventy or eighty years old if this longevity had no meaning for the species. The afternoon of human life must also have a significance of its own and cannot be merely a pitiful appendage to life's morning.
Carl JungRead
The world is full of things that upset people. But most of us deal with it and move on and don't try and burn the planet down.
Salman RushdieRead
Underlying the whole scheme of civilization is the confidence men have in each other, confidence in their integrity, confidence in their honesty, confidence in their future.
William Bourke CockranRead
Our brains have been designed to blur the line between self and other. It is an ancient neural circuitry that marks every mammal, from mouse to elephant.
Frans De WaalRead
I would say that the thrust of my life has been initially about getting free, and then realizing that my freedom is not independent of everybody else. Then I am arriving at that circle where one works on oneself as a gift to other people so that one doesn't create more suffering. I help people as a work on myself and I work on myself to help people.
Ram DassRead
The moon had risen behind him, the color of a shark's underbelly. It lit the ruined walls, and the skin of his arms and hands, with its sickly light, making him long for a mirror in which to study his face. Surely he'd be able to see the bones beneath the meat; the skull gleaming the way his teeth gleamed when he smiled. After all, wasn't that what a smile said? Hello, world, this is the way I'll look when the wet parts are rotted.
Clive BarkerRead