day no. 15,862: self-defensive

"Scripture requires those in spiritual authority to take care that they not react in a manner that makes the accusations retroactively true. False accusations of tyranny could provoke a man into tyranny." -- Douglas Wilson, A Justice Primer

“O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself.” -- St. Augustine of Hippo

When we are insecure before God and man, we rush to our own defense when falsely accused and in our zealous self defense, become guilty of what we were previously innocent.

It is a high ground the enemy can acquire only through our forfeit. When we withstand the temptation to justify ourselves, we are justified by God and before the men whose opinions matter rather than by ourselves and before men whose opinions mean nothing. The haters will still hate and jeer at you for not calling on a legion of angels to come to your defense, but  in fairness, they are also the same people who put you on a stake by falsely accusing you in the first place. So don't imagine that bending over backwards to appease them will convince them to join your fan club.