Quotes from Timothy Lane

God's provision simply can't be reduced to answers and strategies because his provision is tied to his presence. God knows that our need is much bigger and deeper than what we think will satisfy it. So he not only gives us practical advice, he gives us himself.

If you want to enjoy any progress or blessing in your relationships, it will require you to admit your sin humbly and commit yourself to the work they require.

A failure to forgive someone will change you

Each of us is tempted to make relationships the end rather than the means

Forgiveness is an event and a process

The reason we fail to keep commands 4 through 10 is because we have failed to keep the first three. If you break commands 1 through 3, you will break commands 4 through 10. Your Thorny, sinful responses to life grow out of a heart that has defected to worship something else.

relationships when they were meant to point us to the perfect relational satisfaction found only with God.

As J. C. Ryle said, "A true Christian is one who has not only peace of conscience, but war within." 5 We are united to Christ for a purpose: "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight" (Eph. 1:4). Our new life in Christ is just that: new life. A glorious fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil is at its heart and one of the clearest signs of our union with him.

I need to keep practicing forgiveness every time I see you or think of you.

The health and maturity of a relationship are not measured by an absence of problems, but by the way the inevitable problems are handled.

Why is the process of forgiveness so important? Because even if you have forgiven someone for an offense, you will be tempted to think about it the next time you see her, or the next time she sins against you. Without realizing it, you will pile that sin on top of the old sins. This makes it harder and harder to forgive someone.

Forgiveness is not forgetting