Look upon Him you have pierced. Say to thy soul, “What have I done? What love, what mercy, what blood, what grace have I despised and trampled on! Is this the return I make to the Father for his love, to the Son for his blood, to the Holy Spirit for his grace? Do I thus repay the Lord? Have I defiled the heart that Christ died to wash, that the lovely Spirit of God has chosen to dwell in? And what can I say to the dear Lord Jesus? How can I hold my head up before him? Do I account my intimacy with him of so little value, that for the sake of this sin I have scarce left him any room in my heart? How shall I escape if I neglect so great a salvation? Have I, through infinite cost to Christ, now obtained access to the countenance and presence of the Father that I might now provoke him to his very face? Was my soul washed and straightened up by God to make room for new defilements? Shall I now work to endeavor to frustrate the very end goal of all the mighty sufferings and torments an death of Jesus Christ? Shall I daily cause grief in the heart of that Spirit within me whereby I am sealed until the day of redemption?” Friends, entertain thy heart daily with such treaties. See if it can stand hard before this aggravation. If this makes it not melt in some measure, I fear the case is dangerous.
—John Owen
On the Mortification of Sin in Believers
Via: New City Church