wytam

“Have you ever been betrayed? Have you ever been cut to the bone, stabbed in the back? Have you ever given someone your whole heart only to find out they used your heart to beat you with it? Have you ever laid down your life for someone? Have you ever served with reckless abandonment and in return got back a list of things that you failed to do?”
― Kris Vallotton, The Supernatural Power of Forgiveness: Discover How to Escape Your Prison of Pain and Unlock a Life of Freedom

“Let’s pretend that you were the artist who painted that picture.” “OK,” he said, looking a little uptight. I motioned to the picture and yelled, “What a stupid-looking painting! Those colors are terrible! That thing is so ugly!” I paused for a minute. “Now,” I said to him, “does demeaning the painting somehow glorify the artist?” “No!” he answered. Now I had him cornered, so I continued, “Not only is God Himself the one who painted us, so to speak, but Jesus was the one who sat in the chair and modeled for the masterpiece! Remember, we were made in God’s image and in His likeness. We didn’t create ourselves. God created us. We are the work of His hands. When we tear ourselves down, we aren’t being humble; we are being stupid!” He looked stunned. He said, “I have three theological degrees, yet I’ve never been taught this.”
― Kris Vallotton, The Supernatural Ways of Royalty: Discovering Your Rights and Privileges of Being a Son or Daughter of God

“When we came to Christ, it was humility to honestly assess ourselves as sinners. To go back and say that’s still who we are is to deny what Christ did for us. Doing that is no longer humbling ourselves; it’s undercutting the resurrection power God has given us to live like Him.”
― Kris Vallotton, The Supernatural Ways of Royalty: Discovering Your Rights and Privileges of Being a Son or Daughter of God

“The account of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in the fourth chapter of Daniel shows us that learning humility doesn’t mean we have to think of ourselves negatively. In the dream, Nebuchadnezzar sees an angel cut down a huge tree, leaving only the stump. Daniel, his most trusted dream interpreter, tells him that the dream is about him. He is the tree, and he is about to get cut down because of his pride. Daniel urges the king to humble himself before God humbles him. Twelve months later, Nebuchadnezzar is on the roof of his castle talking to himself about how awesome he is to have accomplished so much by himself. Suddenly he loses his mind. He is driven into the fields and lives like an animal for seven years. Finally, after seven long years of complete insanity, God restores his mind. The first statement out of his mouth when he can finally talk again is stunning: At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me (Daniel 4:36). If we didn’t know better, wouldn’t we think that this was the kind of statement that provoked God to humble him in the first place? Once again, he is saying, “I am awesome!” But look at the next verse! He says, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride” (Dan. 4:37). Did you get that? King Nebuchadnezzar is saying that he’s awesome, but God is more awesome. God’s problem with Nebuchadnezzar was not his greatness, but his taking all the credit for it without acknowledging that God gave him his kingdom in the first place. God gave him back everything he had lost because he learned his lesson, that “Heaven rules” (Dan. 4:26). The point is that as long as we acknowledge where our greatness comes from, we’re not in danger of pride. We don’t glorify God by saying we’re not great, we glorify Him by acknowledging that He is the source of that greatness. Humility is not demeaning ourselves but exalting our God.”
― Kris Vallotton, The Supernatural Ways of Royalty: Discovering Your Rights and Privileges of Being a Son or Daughter of God