Hillary

“Over and over and over again God says, “I will choose Nazareth, not Jerusalem. I will choose the girl nobody wants. I will choose the boy everybody has forgotten.” Why? Is it just that God likes underdogs? No. He is telling us something about salvation itself. Every other religion and moral philosophy tells you to summon up all of your strength and live as you ought. Therefore, they appeal to the strong, to the people who can pull it together, the people who can “summon up the blood.” Only Jesus says, “I have come for the weak. I have come for those who admit they are weak. I will save them not by what they do but through what I do.”
― Timothy J. Keller, Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ

“you hold either position, however, your life will be characterized by fear and insecurity, because you will never feel like you are being quite good enough; or it will be marked by pride and disdain for other people if you feel like you actually have been good enough; or it will be marked by self-loathing if you feel you have failed. You may find yourself whiplashed back and forth between two or more of these ways of life.”
― Timothy J. Keller, Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ

“The angel literally says, “Do not be fearing. Be perceiving. For I am telling you the Gospel.” This is the principle—behold and you won’t be afraid. If you take time to comprehend (behold) what is in the Gospel message, it will remove the fear that has dominated and darkened your life. To the degree you truly behold—gaze at, grasp, relish, internalize, rejoice in—the Gospel, to that degree the fears of your life will be undermined.”
― Timothy J. Keller, Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ

“Fear always haunts and then overwhelms you when you seek to save yourself, to earn your own sense of worth, and to construct your own identity.”
― Timothy J. Keller, Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ