Fresh Start Devotionals

Depravity “You can keep your depravity of man,” my ethics professor said, “I don’t buy it.” He abruptly ended the discussion that afternoon, but he didn’t change my mind. You see, I wasn’t just a theology student studying at a respected seminary, I was also the father of a two-year-old at the time. Enough said? They come into the world kicking and screaming, and self absorbed. And we never once have to teach them to throw a fit. Why is that? They constantly yell “mine,” when nothing really belongs to them. We never have to tell them NOT to share—they pick that up on their own. When they’re not saying “mine,” they are yelling “NO!” Now throwing baby food across the room I understand—I wouldn’t eat that stuff either! But they also fight hot baths and squirm away from warm hugs, nothing can explain that. We spend months teaching them to go in the potty and years teaching them to read, and a lifetime teaching them to eat their veggies, but don’t have to spend a single second teaching them to disobey. Why is that? The same reason you don’t have to teach a cat to meow or a dog to bark; it is their nature. My professor? A few years later, he was fired for a morals violation. I wonder if he believes in the depravity of man today? Jim L. Wilson, Fresh Start Devotionals (Fresno, CA: Willow City Press, 2009).