More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
It is competitiveness that is at the very heart of pride.
Pride destroys the ability to have any real pleasure
I will tell you one thing: Madonna knows herself better than most of us know ourselves. Every time she accomplishes something, these are the kind of thoughts she has: ‘Now I have got the verdict that I am somebody. But the next day, I realize that unless I keep going, I am not. My ego cannot be satisfied. My sense of self, my desire for self-worth, my need to be sure I am somebody – it is not fulfilled.
When he does something wrong or something good, he does not connect it to himself any more.
the essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.
Not needing to connect things with myself.
True gospel-humility means I stop connecting every experience, every conversation, with myself.
In fact, I stop thinking about myself.
what we are all looking for, is an ultimate verdict that we are important and valuable.
atheist
Buddhist
Muslim,
But Paul is saying that in Christianity, the verdict leads to performance.
It is not the performance that leads to the verdict. In Christianity, the moment we believe, God says ‘This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.’4
the moment we believe, God imputes Christ’s perfect performance to us as if it were our own, and adopts us into His family. In other words, God can say to us just as He once said to Christ, ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’5
You see, the verdict is in. And now I perform on the basis of the verdict. Because He loves me and He accepts me, I do not have to do things just to build up my résumé. I do not have to do things to make me look good. I can do things for the joy of doing them. I can help people to help people – not so I can feel better about myself, not so I can fill up the emptiness.
