Here are four more quotes for your prayerful consideration. Read through them prayerfully and consider how they might challenge, convict, and console you.
“Can holiness save us? Can holiness put away sin––cover iniquities––make satisfaction for transgressions––pay our debt to God? No: not a whit. God forbid that I should ever say so. Holiness can do none of these things. The brightest saints are all ‘unprofitable servants.’ Our purest works are no better than filthy rags, when tried by the light of God’s holy law. The white robe which Jesus offers, and faith puts on, must be our only righteousness––the name of Christ our only confidence––the Lamb’s book of life our only title to heaven” ~ J. C. Ryle (1816–1900), Holiness, 55.
“Our comfort is altogether in the Lord. In darkness, he is our light, in danger he is our salvation, in weakness he is our strength, and in all our afflictions and straits, he is the strength of our life” ~ Richard Sibbes (1577–1635), Works, 2:213.
“The reason many pastors fail at being leaders is that they want to be leaders. While that may sound strange, we must understand that leadership is not the ultimate goal or standard of success when it comes to gospel ministry. The plethora of books, conferences, seminars, and courses on the subject of leadership feeds a misguided passion in many pastors simply because the world has touted it as a quality and skill of the highest order that’s worthy of our greatest effort. Gospel leadership, however, is quite different. The Bible is clear that the way to be a good leader is not by developing skills to influence people and command organizations. Rather, the way to be a good leader is to be a good servant (Matt. 20:25–28; Mark 9:35)” (21) ~ R. Scott Pace and Jim Shaddix, Expositional Leadership: Shepherding God’s People from the Pulpit, 21.
“When we are unsure of ourselves, we exaggerate. We compensate for inadequacy by braggadocio” ~ Eugene Peterson (1932–2018), “All,” in On Living Well: Brief Reflections on Wisdom for Walking in the Way of Jesus, ed. Paul J. Pastor, 170.
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