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This is actually an excerpt from a book a la Tim Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, NYC.
I thought it was totally appropriate to evaluate ourselves in light of such blemishes. I will be doing this over the weekend..but I can tell you from looking at the list that my chracter is weakened by ALL of them.

Read the following paraphrase of John Newton’s “Some Blemishes in Christian Character”.

Idol: COMFORT (Privacy, lack of stress, freedom)Price We Will Pay: Reduced productivityGreatest Nightmare: Stress, demandsOthers Often Feel: HurtProblem Emotion: Boredom
Idol: APPROVAL (Affirmation, love, relationship)Price We Will Pay: Less independenceGreatest Nightmare: RejectionOthers Often Feel: SmotheredProblem Emotion: Cowardice
Idol: CONTROL (Self-discipline, certainty, standards)Price We Will Pay: Loneliness; spontaneityGreatest Nightmare: UncertaintyOthers Often Feel: CondemnedProblem Emotion: Worry
Idol: POWER (Success, winning, influence)Price We Will Pay: Burdened; responsibilityGreatest Nightmare: HumiliationOthers Often Feel: UsedProblem Emotion: Anger
Discussion questions:
Which of the heart-idols underlies each character flaw?
Which of Newton’s characters do you resemble? Why?