The rule of thumb is that if someone is able to be verbally or physically abusive, he or she is able to understand that the behavior is wrong.

We are more concerned about looking stupid (fear of people) than we are about acting sinfully (fear of the Lord).

As a counselor, I have spoken with many people who want to know their spiritual gifts. They come hoping for some sort of diagnostic test that will precisely locate them. My impression is that this perspective represents a breakdown in the church. It reflects a church where we are running around as self-actualizing individuals rather than uniting as a God-glorifying community.

When you are in the grips of low self-esteem, it’s painful, and it certainly doesn’t feel like pride. But I believe that this is the dark, quieter side of pride — thwarted pride.

If we think we are usually good, then God is usually irrelevant... Such thinking ignores the depths of sin in my own heart, and, in essence, it elevates me so that I am just a mildly flawed imitation of God rather than someone completely dependent on Him.

God is God, He is not tame and domesticated like we sometimes (try to) make Him.

Sanctification is like a clumsy, slow walk rather than a light switch that we turn from off to on.