Is our heart overwhelmed by the truth of our
natural insignificance before the Almighty God?
Are we painfully aware of our sinfulness
and unworthiness before a Holy God?
Is God the constant center around which our
thoughts, desires, words, and actions revolve?
Do we give Him alone our worship, praise,
devotion, and obedience?
– Wayne A. Mack (with Joshua Mack)
in Humility: The Forgotten Virtue
Category: PASSION Quotes
Humility Definition
Humility…consists in an attitude wherein we recognize our own insignificance and unworthiness before God and attribute to Him the supreme honor, praise, prerogatives, rights, privileges, worship, devotion, authority, submission, and obedience that He alone deserves. It also involves a natural, habitual tendency to think and behave in a manner that appropriately expresses this attitude. In other words, that attitude of humility is always seen in humble action.
– Wayne A. Mack (with Joshua Mack)
in Humility: The Forgotten Virtue
Pride Quotes To Ponder
At the root of all ingratitude is the love of one’s own greatness.
– John Piper
The great obstacle to seeking the Lord is pride.
– John Piper
To be proud is to be more like the devil than like Christ.
– J. C. Ryle
The devil is content that people should excel in good works,
provided he can but make them proud of them.
– William Law
Humility Quotes To Ponder
Humility makes you disappear, which is why we avoid it.
-Paul Miller
We spend the whole of our lives watching ourselves.
But when a man becomes meek he has finished with all that.
– Martyn Lloyd Jones
Every good thing in the Christian life grows in the soil of humility.
– John Piper
Pride Is Self-Idolatry
Pride is self-idolatry. God alone is to be worshipped and served because His will is supreme and He alone is God, but pride asserts that man should take supremecy over God. God proclaimed through Isaiah, “My glory I will not give to another” (Isaiah 48:11). God will not tolerate a usurper who attempts to rise above him. God hates pride because the proud man sets himself up in opposition to God. The proud man attempts to steal the glory that God alone deserves.
– Wayne A. Mack in
Humility: The Forgotten Virtue
Robust Repentance
[Edward’s] writings indicate that whenever he became aware of any sin, he sought to turn away from it.
With his mind, he would concur with God about the evil of this sin in his life.
Then, with his heart, he would grieve over such sin.
Finally, with his will, he would choose to remove it from his life.
Steven J. Lawson in
The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards
Here indeed is a robust repentance using the mind, heart, and will – every part of our being. How often do we only dabble in repentance? We may acknowledge that we have sinned, but we really don’t feel bad about it, and show no effort to change. Or maybe we feel bad, and yet don’t think it is really all that bad, and do little to change. Or maybe we try to change even though we don’t want to or really think we need to. But none of these will do. We need to acknowledge the horror of our sin against God, hate and grieve over it, and get serious about fighting to overcome.
Father, by your infinite grace, grant us this robust repentance
that we might better live for your glory. Amen.
Passion Points
For your weekend reading, let me recommend some worthwhile quotes from three heroes of the faith.
Hanging Upon the Life-Giving Cross – Basil the Great (via Trevin Wax)
A wonderful meditation as many of us prepare to celebrate the Lord’s Supper tomorrow.
Rejoice! and The Enjoyment of God – Jonathan Edwards (via Matthew Wynne)
I have been reading a lot about Edwards lately, and I really appreciated these two helpful quotes reminding us to delight in the Lord.
Finally, if you have not yet discovered Erik Kowalker’s blog of J.C.Ryle quotes, I encourage you to visit. Following are some recent quotes I found especially helpful:
Our Unfailing Friend, Jesus Christ
Keep Looking Unto Jesus
In Need of the Holy Spirit’s Presence
Hope you have a great Lord’s Day delighting in our Savior!
The Antithesis of God’s Glory
Sin is the antithesis of God’s glory,
a contradiction of His holy nature.
It is all that falls short of God’s blameless character,
amounting to nothing less than cosmic treason against the Creator.
– Steven J. Lawson in
The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards
Thanksgiving Quotes To Ponder
Never was there an eminent saint who was not full of thankfulness.
– J.C. Ryle
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
– Psalm 100:4-5
Good God, many and great are the blessings by which I am bound to Thee, and for which I give Thee most hearty thanks; but how can I sufficiently thank Thee for having enlightened me with the holy faith? I tremble, O Lord, when I compare this Thy great gift with my own ingratitude.
– Francis de Sales
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us, and to all men. We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we shew forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives; by giving up ourselves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
– 1662 Book of Common Prayer
What Prayer Is
Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out
of the heart or soul to God through Christ,
in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit,
for such things as God hath promised,
or according to the Word, for the good of the Church,
in Faith, to the will of God.
– John Bunyan
