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Melissa

http://clothedwithscarlet.blogspot.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/hismercysurrounding

Melissa’s Bookshelves

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Melissa is Currently Reading

Melissa is currently reading

Crafting a Rule of Life: An Invitation to the Well-Ordered Way

by Stephen A. Macchia

bookshelves: currently-reading, christian-nonfiction

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Jan 01, 2026 08:35PM

Melissa is currently reading

The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God

by Timothy J. Keller

bookshelves: relationship-guides, christian-nonfiction, books-i-own, currently-reading

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Melissa said: " Quotes found while reading:

"Marriage used to be a public institution for the common good, and now it is a private arrangement for the satisfaction of the individuals. Marriage used to be about us, but now it is about me. But ironically, this newer vi Quotes found while reading:

"Marriage used to be a public institution for the common good, and now it is a private arrangement for the satisfaction of the individuals. Marriage used to be about us, but now it is about me. But ironically, this newer view of marriage actually puts a crushing burden of expectation on marriage and on spouses in a way that more traditional understandings never did. And it leaves us desperately trapped between both unrealistic longings for and terrible fears about marriage."

"Marriage brings you into more intense proximity to another human being than any other relationship can. Therefore, the moment you marry someone, you and your spouse begin to change in profound ways, and you can’t know ahead of time what those changes will be. So you don’t know, you can’t know, who your spouse will actually be in the future until you get there."

"In verses 22–24, Paul says, controversially, that wives should submit to their husbands. Immediately, however, he tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and “gave himself up for her” (25), which is, if anything, a stronger appeal to abandon self-interest than was given to the woman. As we shall see, each of these exhortations has a distinct shape—they are not identical tasks. And yet each partner is called to sacrifice for the other in far-reaching ways. Whether we are husband or wife, we are not to live for ourselves but for the other. And that is the hardest yet single most important function of being a husband or a wife in marriage."

"What he is saying is this: A servant puts someone else’s needs ahead of his or her own. That is how all believers should live with each other. And if all believers are to serve each other in this way, how much more intentionally and intensely should husbands and wives have this attitude toward one another?"

"All people need to be treated gently and respectfully, especially those who have been wounded. They will be unusually sensitive to rough handling. Nevertheless, all people must be challenged to see that their self-centeredness hasn’t been caused by the people who hurt them; it’s only been aggravated by the abuse. And they must do something about it, or they’re going to be miserable forever."

"You should stop making excuses for selfishness, you should begin to root it out as it’s revealed to you, and you should do so regardless of what your spouse is doing. If two spouses each say, “I’m going to treat my self-centeredness as the main problem in the marriage,” you have the prospect of a truly great marriage." ...more "

Oct 30, 2025 09:49PM · see review

Melissa is currently reading

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War

by Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading, civil-war, history-nonfiction, audio

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Sep 22, 2025 09:29PM

See all 55 books that Melissa is reading…

Melissa’s Notes & Highlights

Book cover for Sweet Dreams Christian Romance Box Set: Books 1-3

Sweet Dreams Christian Romance Box Set: Books 1-3 by Alana Terry

1 highlight

“I thought I knew the Lord,” Grandma Lucy said, “but I was still living by the set of rules others had told me made up the Christian life. I was still acting as if I could earn my way into God’s grace by the good things I did. Even as a ...more

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Melissa’s Quotes

“Many books require no thought from those who read them, and for a very simple reason; they made no such demand upon those who wrote them.”
― Charles Caleb Colton

tags: literature

19 likes

“Grace is the pleasure of God to magnify the worth of God by giving sinners the right and power to delight in God without obscuring the glory of God.”
― John Piper

203 likes

“The wisdom of God devised a way for the love of God to deliver sinners from the wrath of God while not compromising the righteousness of God.”
― John Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist

tags: christianity

146 likes