Jessica Thompson on grace in relationships

I am currently reading Everyday Grace by Jessica Thompson.  She is also the author of Give Them Grace and a family devotion called Exploring Grace Together. She has so many good things to say in Chapter 3 that my book is full of green highlighter.  Here are a few quotes to think about:

We have too high a view of our ability to do things right if we just have the right instructions...we also have too low a view of God and his love for us. In our laser-like attention to the doing, we forget what has been done.

We can get so caught up in the doing that we forget about the people we are supposed to love. Here is another reason I think most relationship books are off: They focus on the doing.

As you taste (Psalm 34:8) this multifaceted relationship with God, it will transform all of your other relationships.

There is no "one size fits all" when it comes to relationships. The whole Bible is written in such a way that in most verses we see the done before we see the do. But, unfortunately, you and I are blind to it.

Like a good father, he knows what is best for us and gives us good instruction in His Word. All of the commands of Scripture are perfect and right. There is one problem with the commands, though--they don't have the power to change us.

Obedience is more than following the rules; obedience must come from a heart of love, or it is nothing more than self-righteousness.

Paul doesn't pray (Ephesians 3) that the Ephesians would get their act together; he prays that they would somehow be able to comprehend the incomprehensible love of God in Christ.