Quotes from Think Again

I am currently reading through Think Again by Jared Mellinger.  A review of the book will be posted tomorrow on the blog.  Here are some quotes from the first half of the book that I have enjoyed:

The more we are captivated by Christ, the less we are caught up in self. Fear, false guilt, unbelief, and many other daily struggles are weeds that grow in the soil of thinking about ourselves too much, and thinking about Christ too little. Jesus rescues us from the introspection that would make us unfruitful and ineffective by fixing our eyes on him.

What we learn is that the gospel rescues us from self-hatred and self-esteem by destroying the idol of self and replacing it with Christ.

Satan's strategies for keeping us in sin is by leading us to dwell excessively on our sin. The devil's lie is that the more we focus on sin, the more we will be free from it. But ruminating too long upon our ruin is not a virtue. The Spirit's goal in showing us our sin is to drive us to Christ and the sufficiency of his grace. The reason we look inward is so we know what to look to Christ for. It is not much use if we are experts in identifying sin, only to be novices at applying grace.

Focusing on our circumstances is never the ultimate solution to our struggles.

A principle is a basic truth that guides our actions; a practice is a specific way of doing something...But specific practices are not to be confused with biblically mandated principles.

The solution to excessive self-reflection and unhelpful introspection is not casting off all self-examination. Instead, we look to Christ and learn how to examine ourselves in a way that strengthens our faith in him and deepens our joy in him.