Quotes from Edward Welch

For now, what things have you done that you prefer to keep private? What things in your life do you insist on keeping secret? That's where we will find the shame that is attached to what we do.

What happens when people are raised on a steady diet of "You are great, you can do anything, you deserve it, you are the best, you can get what you want"? Sooner or later they find that they are not great, they can't do everything, they are not the best, and they can't control it all. Depression and denial are the only two options left.

If we make such comparisons, we might be tempted not to speak of the suffering from our hearts to the Lord because we would consider it whining, which it certainly is not.

Worship often takes our attention off ourselves completely. It isn't necessary to relate our worship of God to what he has done for us. God is great and worthy of our worship regardless of what he has done for us! Yet, having blessed the name of the Lord together, it strengthens our faith to remember what God has done for us, and also to hear what God is doing in other people.

In our attempts to help, we can overinterpret suffering.

Imagine how aloneness could gradually be banished.

How does God move toward you?

Do not end the conversation without an offer to pray. Ask what he needs prayer for and either pray right then or pray later and then follow up the next time you see him.

When your wants become needs, it means that you have put your trust in people. They have become like a god to you. Yet, for some reason, the true God is patient with you. Although you might reject him, he doesn't reject you. And this is everyone's story.

Jesus suffered, and Jesus was dearly loved as the only Son of the Father. When we suffer what seems like endless pain, it is hard to believe that God loves us, but Jesus' suffering proves that it can be true.

What does your worship look like? Anxiety, despair, shopping, primping, acting like someone you aren't, acting stupid when you are smart, or acting like you don't care when you do? Why do you do it? You are hoping that, if you worship it correctly, the idol will give you what you want. But idols are notoriously slow in responding.

Sin is not rational. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't look into the future. It doesn't consider consequences, especially if they are not immediate. All it knows is "I WANT—I WANT MORE.