The late John MacArthur was considered to be somewhat of a trouble maker within some Christian circles. In fact, I heard a professor call him a “rabble-rouser”. This may be somewhat true, but the church needs some rabble rousers. We need people who will challenge our ideas and assumptions. You might not believe this, but MacArthur once urged me to quit my sinful habit without one ounce of condemnation. He basically said if I quit there could be rewards while if I didn’t I could face obstacles. He told me I should do like Paul and beat my body into submission. That was exactly what I needed to hear. I was just struck by his approach to all of this. I would have expected a long diatribe about my sin, but instead he displayed grace to me. As a result of that, I ended up quitting the habit for a short while. It seems to be true that kindness leads us to repentance. And God has been very patient with me regarding this habit but now it’s putting my health at risk–my life is in danger. I must quit this habit, for myself and my relationship to God. When you experience God’s grace, it will melt that stubborn hardened heart. It might be difficult to surrender to a god that is always on your back. We might surrender to that out of obligation or fear, but it’s a joy to surrender when you have a God that loves you unconditionally.