"I know all about the despair of overcoming chronic temptations.
It is not serious provided self-offended petulance, annoyance at breaking records, impatience etc doesn't get the upper hand. No amount of falls will really undo us if we keep on picking ourselves up each time. We shall of course be very muddy and tattered children by the time we reach home. But the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, and the clean clothes are airing in the cupboard.
The only fatal thing is to lose one's temper and give it up. It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present to us: it is the very sign of His presence."
--The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, Volume 2 (Cambridge University Press, 2004), letter to Mary Neylan, January 20, 1942 page 507; emphasis original
HT: Dane Ortlund
The Bible is the story of God’s counteroffensive against sin. It is the grand narrative of how God made it right, how he is making it right, and how he will one day make it right finally and forever.
— Greg Gilbert What is the Gospel? (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010), 61
More quotes from
Gospel-Centered Discipleship by Jonathan Dodson:
"God does not accept us as we are. He accepts us as we are in Christ....As recipients of God's grace, we are compelled to follow Jesus in all of life." (Page 127)
"Fight your sin means a habitual weakening of hte flesh through constant fighting and contending in the Spirit for sweet victory over sin. It should be regular and progressive, not occasional and instant. Fighting is not an end in itself or a way to make us more presentable in Christ. We fight for belief in his gospel, the truest and best news on earth..." (Page 128, italics in original)
"We don't fight for acceptance; we fight from our acceptance. We don't contend against sin to forge an identity but because we have received a new identity in Christ. Perfection is not the goal; persevering faith is." (Page 129)
