Please bear with me...this could be a long one...but I can't keep this message to myself!
I have never been as challenged by any other author in the way that I have through this book...
"The more guilt and shame that we have buried within ourselves, the more compelled we feel to seek relief through sin."
"A poor self image reveals a lack of humility. Feelings of insecurity, inadequacy, inferiority, and self hatred rivet our attention on ourselves. Humble men and women do not have a low opinion of themselves; they have no opinion of themselves, because they think so rarely about themselves. The heart of humilty lies in undivided attention to God, a facination with his beauty revealed in creation, a contemplative presence to each person who speaks to us, and a 'de-selfing' of our plans, projects, ambitions, and soul. Humilty is manifested in an indifference to our intellectual, emotional and physical well being and a carefree disregard of the image we present. No longer concerned with appearing to be good, we can move freely in the mystery of who we really are, aware of the sovereignty of God and of our absolute insufficiency and yet moved by a spirit of radical self-acceptance without self-concern."
"Humble people are without pretense, free from any sense of spiritual superiority, and liberated from the need to be assoicated with persons of importance. The awareness of thier spiritual emptiness does not disconcert them. Neither overly sensitive to criticism nor inflated by praise, they recognize thier brokenness, acknowledge their gifts, and refuse to take themselves seriously."
"A truly humble man does not fear being exposed."
"The great weakness in the North American church at large, and certainly in my life, is our refusal to accept our brokenness. We hide it, evade it, gloss over it. We grab for the cosmetic kit and put on our virtuous face to make ourselves admirable to the public. Thus, we present to others a self that is spiritually together, superficially happy, and lacquered with a sence of self-deprecating humor that passes for humility. The irony is that while I do not want anyone to know that I am judgmental, lazy, vulnerable, screwed up, and afriad, for fear of losing face, the facethat I fear losing is the mask of the impostor, not my own!"
"We have not come to terms with the tragic flaw in our lives:the brokenness that is proper to the human condition. Without that acknowledgement, there can be little power, for as Jesus said to the apostle paul, 'My power works at its best in your weakness' (2 Cor. 12:9)."
"Defense mechanisms are useful ploys to warp our perception of self and protect us from rejection, loss, and emotional pain. Through the smokescreen of rationalization, projection, and insulation, we remian on the merry-go-round of denial and dishonesty. Unable to accept our brokenness, we wear a thousand masks to disguise the face of fear.
"Humilty and honesty are really the same thing. A humble person is simply a brutally honest person about the whole truth. You and I came along a few years ago, and we're going to be gone in a few years. The only honest response to life is a humble one."
"Humble people are small in their own eyes, honest about thier struggles, and open to constructive criticism. Following the counsel of Jesus to take the last place, they are not shocked or offended when others put them there. They trust that they are loved, accepted, forgiven, and redeemed just as they are. Aware of thier innate poverty, they throw themselves on the mercy of God with carefree abandon."
