Quotes from Paul David Tripp

Our blessings are never payment for the good we've done, and our trials are never punishment for the wrongs we've done. This cause-and-effect equation is always bad spiritual math.

When someone who knows you points out a sin, a weakness, or a failure, are you thankful?

The entire hope of fallen humanity rests on this one thing—that there is a Savior who is eternally steadfast in redeeming, forgiving, reconciling, transforming, and delivering love.

You'll never celebrate grace as much as you should when you think you're more righteous than you actually are.

Adam and Eve weren't just after God's forbidden fruit; they were after God's position.

To live for yourself is to rob yourself of your own humanity. It is only in living for Christ that we actually begin to become what we were meant to be.

Change is about learning what is right, acknowledging that it is right, confessing that you have been wrong, committing to a new way of living, and seeking the help you need to do it. (66)

Trust is being so convinced that you can rely on the integrity, strength, character, and faithfulness of another that you are willing to place yourself in his or her care.

Sturdy contentment that can weather the storms of difficulty and want is always rooted in worship.

It's a grace to regret. Grace allows you to face your sin, to own it and not shift the blame. But it is also grace that forgives what has been exposed. Grace forces you to feel the pain of your regrets, but never asks you to pay for them, because the price has already been paid by Jesus.

This is what sin does to us all. At a deep and often unnoticed level, sin replaces worship of God with worship of self. It replaces submission with self-rule. It replaces gratitude with demands for more. It replaces faith with self-reliance. It replaces vertical joy with horizontal envy. It replaces a rest in God's sovereignty with a quest for personal control. We live for our glory. We set up our rules. We ask others to serve our agenda.

Only when I focus on the holiness and glory of God am I able to see myself with accuracy.

You do not need to swindle yourself into thinking that you are strong. You can face your weakness with joy because you know that you have been given grace for that weakness; grace that is not a thing, but a person—the Holy Spirit, who makes you the place where he dwells in power.

He knows that his plan will confuse and confound you. And he knows that real rest cannot be found in understanding. Real rest is found in trust.

You and I simply never know for sure what is coming next. Think about it: your life has not worked according to your plan. You could not have written yourself into your present situation twenty years ago. Last week didn't work according to your plan. Today won't work according to your plan. Your life is under the wise and sovereign plan of another (see Acts 17:26–27; Dan. 4:34b–35).

You're not generally angry because things are in the way of God and his kingdom purposes. You're angry because something or someone has gotten in the way of something you crave, something you think will inspire contentment, satisfaction, or happiness in you. Your heart is desperate to be inspired, and you get mad when your pursuits are blocked. Where you look for awe will fundamentally control the thoughts and emotions of your heart in ways you normally don't even realize.

God's grace frees you from having to deny your weaknesses.

Here's how gospel growth works: you cannot grieve what you do not see, you cannot confess what you haven't grieved, and you can't repent of what you haven't confessed.

Because doubt drives us to know and understand, it has the power to lead you to the One who knows and understands everything. Your capacity to doubt can drive you to God, but not always. This is why we need to talk about doubt, because this God-given capacity, wrongly functioning, can be disastrous.

Your job is be God's tool for the purpose of forming the image of God's Son in your children.

It is grace to not be paralyzed by regret. The cross teaches that you are not stuck, not cursed to pay forever for your past.

Grace allows you to face your sin, to own it and not shift the blame.

The doubt of wonderment is a normal part of a life of faith, and it's spiritually healthy when it drives you to bring your confusion to the One who has no confusion.

True humanity is always connected to glory, and true glory can only be found in the One who is glory, the Lord.