A historian is making a study of the diaries of teenage girls from the past 150 years. As she compares the differences between the older diaries and the ones from today, the big difference is that in the past the girls were more likely to put their personal struggles in a spiritual context. They were more likely to call upon God for his help in their character development. But today, she discovered, girls are counting on themselves.
—Jim Nicodem, "The Straight Scoop on Anger," Preaching Today, Tape No. 172, Today's Best Illustrations – Volume 5, (Carol Stream, IL: Christianity Today, 1997), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "SELF-CONFIDENCE".
Deuteronomy 29:19 (NIV) When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, "I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way." This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
Proverbs 3:5 (TEV) Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know.
Proverbs 3:7 (TEV) Never let yourself think that you are wiser than you are; simply obey the LORD and refuse to do wrong.
2 Corinthians 1:9 (KJV) But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead.
