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David A. Powlison QUOTES

David A. Powlison QUOTES

1 " The love of Christ for me will get last say. He is merciful to me for his name’s sake, for the sake of his own goodness, for the sake of his steadfast love and compassion (Psalm 25). When he thinks about me, he remembers what he is like, and that is my exceeding joy. My indestructible hope is that he has turned his face towards me, and he will never turn away. "

― David A. Powlison

2 " Truth mediates a Person, a working Redeemer. To be human is to love a Savior, Father, Master, and Lord. Instead of "psychopathology" and "syndromes," we see "sins" against this Person, and we see sufferings that are "trials" revealing our need for a true Deliverer and refuge. Instead of proposing that some psychodynamic insight, met need, altered self-talk, or behavioral rehabituation will cure us, we receive God's actually mercies as our salvation. Instead of defining change as an intra-psycic, psychosocial, or biological process of "healing" or "growth," we define change as turning to a Person whom we trust, fear, obey, and seek to please. Instead of letting the goal of "health" cue our system to a medical metaphor, we set the goal of being transformed into the likeness of this Person with whom we live in relationship. (4) "

― David A. Powlison

3 " We don’t just need a perspective or a strategy. We need a Savior, right here, right now. "

― David A. Powlison , Speaking Truth in Love: Counsel in Community

4 " By instinct, habit, and enculturation, all of us tend to think of counseling as a human-with-human interaction. But in fact a human-with-Savior interaction must come first. When I as a counselor don’t get that straight, I inevitably offer others some sort of saviorette. "

― David A. Powlison , Speaking Truth in Love: Counsel in Community

5 " learn to love others intelligently rather than demand their affirmation and adoration. "

― David A. Powlison , Speaking Truth in Love: Counsel in Community

6 " There is grace for the humble. Grace for those who ask for it. Instead of confessing others’ sins, you can confess your own. Instead of proudly proclaiming your own rightness, you can confess your many sins, failings, and weaknesses and ask for grace. Instead of railing against God when you don’t get what you want, you can submit yourself to God and draw near to him. "

― David A. Powlison , Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness

7 " Here is the sweet paradox in how God works. He blesses those who admit that they need help: The poor in spirit are blessed (Matthew 5: 3). Sanity has a deep awareness, I need help. I can’t do life right on my own. Someone outside me must intervene. The sanity of honest humility finds mercy, life, peace, and strength. By contrast, saying we don’t need help keeps us stuck on that hamster wheel of making excuses and blaming others. The end result isn’t life and peace; it’s self-righteousness, self-justification, alienation, and bitterness. "

― David A. Powlison , Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness

8 " There’s something high and mighty about anger, when distilled to its basic elements. Anger goes wrong when you get godlike. Your desires become divine law. Poke your way into every example of bad anger, and you’ll find god-playing. "

― David A. Powlison , Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness

9 " Sanity has a deep awareness, I need help. I can’t do life right on my own. Someone outside me must intervene. The sanity of honest humility finds mercy, life, peace, and strength. By contrast, saying we don’t need help keeps us stuck on that hamster wheel of making excuses and blaming others. The end result isn’t life and peace; it’s self-righteousness, self-justification, alienation, and bitterness. Chapter 3 How Does That Shoe Fit? "

― David A. Powlison , Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness

10 " Figure 1. Five Questions to Help Discern Your Calling "

― David A. Powlison , Journal of Biblical Counseling 28-3

11 " When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord” (Proverbs 19: 3). "

― David A. Powlison , Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness

12 " Every time you get angry, you make your values and point of view explicit. "

― David A. Powlison , Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness

13 " The truth is that you can’t understand God’s love if you don’t understand his anger. "

― David A. Powlison , Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness

14 " The most experienced psychologist or observer of human nature knows infinitely less of the human heart than the simplest Christian who lives beneath the Cross of Jesus. "

― David A. Powlison , Seeing with New Eyes: Counseling and the Human Condition Through the Lens of Scripture

15 " Whereas the world can reduce our explanations of psychiatric problems to the body, the Christian community can reduce it to Satan. "

― David A. Powlison , Journal of Biblical Counseling 28-2

16 " I seek God daily because I need to. When I don’t meet God personally, thoughtfully, and humbly, I suffer the consequences. It’s analogous to forgetting to eat. I suffer because I am hungry, not because I feel guilty. “I’m hungry and I need to eat” is different from “I really should have eaten, and I failed again. "

― David A. Powlison , How Does Sanctification Work?

17 " Faith’s enduring and alert dependency on the Lord is one of the Spirit’s finest fruits. And you bear that fruit only when you have lived through something hard. "

― David A. Powlison , God's Grace in Your Suffering

18 " Platitudes, affirming self-talk, mindfulness, self-assertion, or medication can never do what actually needs doing. None of these angers is explained or resolved by the self-help industry. "

― David A. Powlison , Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness

19 " Ministry unbalances truth for sake of relevance; theology rebalance truth for the sake of comprehensiveness "

― David A. Powlison

20 " We are meant to live with God on the throne, with a wide-open heart to him and others. But a contentious, judgmental person has shriveled up inside, shutting down to both God and neighbor. On the outside, a contentious person speaks rotten words that tear down rather than build up and condemn rather than give grace (Ephesians 4: 29). On the inside, a person swept up in sinful anger has become demonic and diabolical—in the truest sense—an image-bearer of the hostile critic of God’s people (James 3: 15; 4: 7). "

― David A. Powlison , Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness