Psalm 51:5

Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
(NIV)

This is an important truth that gets skipped over from time to time. We are without a doubt, sin-infested from the time of conception. We are not good.

Any parent should be able to testify to this. I have never had to teach my children to lie, cheat, or steal... but they can do all three of those things quite adequately.

Here is how the Minnesota Crime Commission put it:

"Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered. He wants what he wants when he wants it: his bottle, his mother's attention, his playmate's toys, his uncle's watch, or whatever. Deny him these and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous were he not so helpless. He's dirty, he has no morals, no knowledge, no developed skills. This means that all children, not just certain children but all children, are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in their self-centered world of infancy, given free reign to their impulsive actions to satisfy each want, every child would grow up a criminal, a thief, a killer, a rapist."

So True.

Lord, don't love us because of who we are. Instead, have mercy on us O God, according to your great love, according to your great compassion!