Quotes from Timothy Lane

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it

Your words are always in pursuit of some kind of kingdom.

So that the body of Christ may be built up

You are either speaking as a mini-king, seeking to establish your will in your relationships and circumstances; or you are speaking as an ambassador, seeking to be part of what the King is doing. There

Our purpose is to get what we want, but God's purpose is to give us what we really need.

it's about speaking with a biblical agenda. If

I want all of our talk to be redemptively constructive, from the most mundane details to the huge life decisions.

We enter relationships for personal pleasure, self-actualization, and fun. We want low personal cost and high self-defined returns. But God wants high personal cost and high God-defined returns.

Only when we start with God—someone bigger than ourselves—can we escape the destructive results of our own selfishness.

The words of an ambassador are always other-centered. Consider the problem ("according to their needs")

Do you need encouragement, comfort, hope, direction, wisdom, courage, rebuke, warning, forgiveness, patience, teaching, correction, thanks, insight, a job description, or something else? My words must be shaped by your need. An ambassador's words always address the person's true need of the moment.

My panic was about more than being overwhelmed in my responsibilities; it revealed a lack of trust in God. We can't move toward community with one another until we have been drawn into community with God.