Quotes from Edward Welch

When you are fully confident that your Father is just, you know that injustice will not prosper. You will not become angry when offenses are committed against you because you will leave it in his hands.

When the only one who has a right to be angry chooses love and service, when He considers the interests of others more important than His own and chooses humility—He changes everything (p. 55).

Suffering feels like our biggest problem and avoiding it like our greatest need—but we know that there is something more. Sin is actually our biggest problem, and rescue from it is our greatest need.

Isaiah himself was only more aware of his shame as it stood in contrast to the perfection and purity of the Lord. It brought him to despair at his predicament. But despair is not a bad thing when it compels us to trust in or be associated with God himself.

Shame is very much on display in Jesus' crucifixion. When he predicted his own death to his disciples, he made sure to explain that it would be infused with mocking, a public flogging, and spitting (Mark 10:33—34). Witness this hatred and rejection and it will change you.

Humans are needy by design. Will we abandon the myth of independence and seek God?

Worldly honor is passé. It is part of a fading kingdom. Honor in Christ is the only true honor.

God does not forgive you based on the quality of your confession or your resolve to be a better person. But you keep thinking otherwise. Your standard is what you would do to someone like yourself, and chances are that you would not let the incident pass quickly. God, however, forgives, for his own name's sake. I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more (Isa. 43:25).

We aim to create our own psalms in which we (1) pour out our complaint to the Lord, (2) review God's promises and his faithfulness, (3) find our rest and comfort in Jesus, and (4) let others know that they, too, can find rest and comfort. Then, when we falter, we ask for help and do it all again.

To look to Christ to meet our perceived psychological needs is to Christianize our lusts. We are asking God to give us what we want, so we can feel better about ourselves, or so we can have more happiness, not holiness, in our lives.

Priests are the very offspring of God and share in his likeness. Our lineage is from heaven, which makes us hybrids of heaven and earth, though the scales tip in the direction of heaven. We are more connected to heaven than is the rest of creation. We are children priests or, since our Father is the king, we are royal priests who can enjoy his companionship as he actually enjoys ours.

The fastest way to bring a wrecking ball to our skewed interpretations is through confession.