Denial

“The human heart runs on denial, the way my car runs on gas.” -Tim Keller, from sermon “He Came to His Himself”

You can’t ignore it

Ignoring problems in our hearts doesn’t mean they go away. It just means they go unchecked in our lives.

How We Know Ourselves

“We only know ourselves when we listen to the words [God] has spoken about us.” -Paul Tripp

I Need An Other

“Sanity has a deep awareness, ‘I need help. I can’t do life right on my own. Someone outside me must intervene.'” – David Powlison

Self-Deception

“Don’t believe everything you think. You cannot be trusted to tell yourself the truth. Stay in the Word.” -Jerry Bridges

Knowing God Leads to Knowing Ourselves Rightly

“It is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God’s face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinize himself.” -John Calvin

Self-Knowledge is Life-Changing

“For what man in all the world would not gladly remain as he is–what man does not remain as he is–so long as he does not remain as he is–so long as he does not know himself…” -John Calvin

Anti-God Energy

“One who does not have the Spirit does not necessarily and self-consciously say, “How can I destroy my life today?” He may choose a path that looks good and proper, but it leads to destruction: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Prov. 14:12). A relentless anti-God energy is at work in the minds of unbelievers, distracting, deceiving, and dragging down every thought into a grave.”-Derek Thomas

In Bondage, Not Control

“Roy Horn was part of the long-running two-man show “Siegfried fried & Roy” in Las Vegas. As part of the show, Horn performed with trained tigers. One day, Horn gave one of his tigers a command. The tiger refused to do it, so the ringmaster tapped him on the nose. Within seconds, the tiger grabbed Horn by the neck and dragged him around the ring. For several weeks afterward, Horn hovered between life and death. This story reflects our relationship to the law: we think we are in control, but we are not. We are in bondage to the law.” -Derek Thomas

Deflecting Rather Than Confronting

“Self-examination, being reflexive act, is difficult: ‘We would rather excuse a vice than drive it out.’ (Seneca)” – Thomas Watson