Great Commandment

The biblical logic is clear. You can’t keep the second Great Commandment unless you are first keeping the first. Only in bowing before God and submitting his desires can we really turn to one another in peace and love.

- Paul David Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, 88.

Centrality of the Gospel, Methodology

The apostles of Jesus Christ prize truth above style and quietly refuse to endorse any form that may prove so attractive, diversionary, that the centrality of gospel truth is jeopardized.

- D.A. Carson, The Cross and Christian Ministry, 88-89.

Worship, Adoration

The admonition to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart…and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37) can mean only one thing. It means to adore Him. I use the word “adore” sparingly, for it is a precious word. I love babies and I love people, but I cannot say I adore them. Adoration I keep for the lonely One who deserves it. In no other presence and before no other being can I kneel in reverent fear and wonder and yearning and feel the sense of possessiveness that cries “Mine, mine!” They can change the expressions in the hymnals, but whenever men and women are lost in worship they will cry out, “Oh God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee” (Psalm 63:1). Worship becomes a completely personal love experience between God and the worshiper. It was like that with David, with Isaiah, with Paul. It is like that with all whose desire has been to possess God.

This is the glad truth: God is my God.

- A.W. Tozer, Whatever Happened to Worship, 88-89.

Genuine Salvation

So unfathomable are the counsels of divine wisdom contained in it, that all the angels of heaven are searching into it with a thirst that is insatiable. Such is its efficacy, that nothing can withstand its influence. By this then, my brethren, you my judge whether you are Christians in deed and in truth, or whether you are only such in name…For a nominal Christian is content with proving the way of salvation by a crucified Redeemer. But the true Christian loves it, delights in it, glories in it, and shudders at the very thought of glorying in anything else.

- Charles Simeon, Quoted in John Piper's Roots of Endurance, 113.

Bitterness

So how do we know if we have become bitter? If we habitually review the offender’s wrong, if we replay the episode over and over in our minds, if we wallow in self-pity or withdraw our affection – chances are we have succumbed to bitterness. And we cannot pursue a sincere desire for our families’ happiness when bitterness blocks the way.

- Carolyn Mahaney, Feminine Appeal, 108.

Sin, Inability

Sin renders us incapable of doing what God has ordained us to do. This inability colors every situation and relationship or our lives. It is not just that I don’t want to do God’s will, or that I think my way is better, it’s that even when I have right intentions, I can’t pull it off. I always fall short of God’s standard.

- Paul David Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, 15.

Feelings

Scripture is clear that he primary purpose of our feelings is to enjoy and glorify God.

- Carolyn Mahaney, Feminine Appeal, 64.