Mary Chaffee

“Satan’s primary goal is to prevent us from having an intimate relationship with the Lord. He wants to derail our love and devotion for God. One of the ways he does this is by filling our time with distractions and the very things that prevent us from studying God’s Word. Why does he go to such lengths? Because he knows that if we study God’s Word, we will discover the joy, peace, security, and blessing of being with God. He knows that God will strengthen us as we read His Word and prepare us for life’s difficult challenges. In essence, we will learn how to “bend a bow of bronze” (Ps. 18:34). We will learn how to discern the truth about the enemy, who is a liar, a deceiver, and the prince of darkness. His folly will be exposed as God’s Spirit teaches us how to stand firm in our faith. With God’s Word as our sword and shield, we will take captive every thought that would exalt itself above Jesus Christ.”
― Charles F. Stanley, 10 Principles for Studying Your Bible: Practical Insights into God’s Word

“Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace; taking, as [Jesus] did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.”6”
― John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World

“The reality is that there are few struggles in the lives of my children that aren’t in my life as well (materialism, relationships, wanting my own way, attraction to the world, subtle idolatries, etc.). This admission transformed my parenting. Instead of approaching them with self-righteous outrage, I moved toward them as a sinner in need of grace needing to confront a sinner in need of grace. God’s plan is to make his invisible grace visible to children by sending parents of grace to give grace to children who need grace. And parents who know they need grace tend to want to give grace to children who are just like them.”
― Paul David Tripp, Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

“Inability doesn’t mean that God has made a massive mistake by giving you children, that somehow he’s gotten the wrong address and your children would be better off elsewhere. Rather than your inability being in the way of God’s plan, it is part of his plan. He knows that parents who admit that they are inadequate and run to God make the best parents. You see, he doesn’t ask you to be able; he asks you to be willing. If you are willing, he will meet you in your weakness and change you, and as he changes you, he will work good things through you into the hearts and lives of your children.”
― Paul David Tripp, Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family