Trip to Tripp

So this weekend I went to a conference.

Paul Tripp spoke on a topic very close to my heart... community.  The conference was called "Your Walk with God is a Community Project."

Before the conference I would joke around with people- using that phrase like a funny insult (all out of well-meaning and love, of course... you know how I am about wanting to have a good laugh).  But during the conference, I was convicted in many ways.  Along with many other things, Tripp talked about sin and how it breaks our community with others.  It made me think a lot about my own sin:

"Sin is everywhere and the DNA of sin is selfishness.  If you want to experience depravity, take a family road trip.  We are so self-oriented and easily-irritated, its easier for us to be adversaries than a community."


"Sin in its fundamental form is anti-social.  It causes me to de-humanize the people in my life.  They stop being objects of affection and become either vehicles or obstacles to please me.  The vehicles are for MY good and the obstacles are for MY bad.  Sin is obsessively self-focused."


It's so important for me to remember that I am a sinner- I don't want to become calloused to my sin, only seeing fault in the people around me.  It's also important to remember that as Christians, we have been given purpose through Christ's death.
2 Corinthians 5:15- "He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf."
One of the primary purposes for which Jesus came was to break my bondage to myself.  Grace causes us to live for something bigger than ourselves and thankfully, it causes us to live in community...  Taking family road trips all the time!!!