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Quotes by John Broger

1

Self-belittlement, self-exaltation, and self-pity all indicate a preoccupation with self.  Inordinate attention to self is the exact opposite of God’s commandments to love Him and others.  A self-focus also prohibits the development of a Christlike servant attitude in you.  If you try to save your life by focusing on self, you will reap certain consequence; instead of saving your life, you will lose it.

2

Faithfully disciplining (training, educating, correcting) your child in a manner that pleases the Lord is an expression of biblical love. It also is a step of obedience for you as a parent and provides godly direction for your child.

3

Since the marriage relationship is to reflect the relationship between Jesus Christ and His Church, it is imperative that biblical submission and love be practiced in all of its aspects between husband and wife.

4

As you obey God’s Word and rely on His strengthening power, you can count on biblical change to occur in every area of your life.

5

Prayer gives you opportunity to praise God and to request His divine intervention in your life and/or the lives of others.  Prayer allows you to glorify His Name and also provides an avenue for you to be filled with joy.

6

Parents provoke their children to anger by not practicing biblical love, not considering their children as more important than themselves, and not dying to self to become a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

7

To determine the effects of a life-dominating sin, you must examine the way it is demonstrated in all areas of life. If you practice a life-dominating sin, it will eventually affect all relationships and responsibilities. Other life-dominating sins are often developed and practiced to “cover up” (practice deceit) for primary life-dominating sin.

8

Learning how to love your neighbor requires a willingness to draw on the strength of Jesus Christ as you die to self and live for Him. Living in this manner allows you to practice biblical love for others in spite of adverse circumstances or your feelings to the contrary.

9

Loving others in a biblical manner involves your thoughts, words, and actions and is a sign of your being a disciple of Christ. Loving others biblically is dependent on your commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and is not dependent on people, circumstances, or your feelings.

10

Living God’s way means putting away your self-centeredness and committing yourself to follow God’s Word in spite of any feelings to the contrary.

11

Many conflicts in a marriage result from living to please self instead of living to please the Lord. These conflicts can be resolved and are actually opportunities for spiritual growth when dealt with in a biblical manner.

12

Neglecting or refusing God’s ways brings multiplied problems.  To deal effectively with your problems, you must realize your inadequacy and turn to the power of God for salvation.  Then, you will be able to make the necessary biblical changes that characterize a child of God as you reverently depend on God and His Word.

13

Man’s “solutions” to your difficulties will ultimately fail because they do not deal with the source of your problems: your heart.  God’s solutions, as revealed in Scripture, go to the heart of the matter where permanent change is accomplished.

14

The supreme challenge you will face in making Christ-honoring, biblical changes is dying to self. The biblical perspective concerning “self” is exactly opposite to what the wisdom of this world proclaims.

15

God’s forgiveness is an outpouring of abundant grace and mercy that provides pardon to the guilty. Although God’s forgiveness does not necessarily release the offender from the physical or material consequences of his sin, it provides full release from the guilt of the wrongdoing. For you to practice biblical forgiveness, you must understand and accept God’s gracious forgiveness of you and must follow His example in providing forgiveness to others.

16

As parents, you may confidently rear your children according to God’s Word.  While bringing up your children, you are to remember that your children are not your “possessions” but instead are the Lord’s gift to you.  You are to exercise faithful stewardship in their lives.

17

The primary meaning of the word “love” in Scripture is a purposeful commitment to sacrificial action for another. In fact, loving God is demonstrated by obeying His Word (Jn. 14:15, 21, 23-24; 1 Jn. 5:3; 2 Jn. 1:6). Powerful emotions may accompany biblical love, but it is the commitment of the will that holds love steadfast and unchanging. Emotions may change, but a commitment to love in a biblical manner endures and is the hallmark of a disciple of Jesus Christ.

18

Depression is not a disease. While there are some organic malfunctions that may trigger feelings of depression, many symptoms and maladies defined as depression (whether short-lived or chronic) are the consequences of unbiblical habits and/or sinful reactions to circumstances and other people. Depression that stems from unbiblical living can be overcome as you deal biblically with your sins and purposefully live in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord.

19

Sins such as envy, jealousy, covetousness, and greed very markedly reveal a focus on self. Instead you are to please God and bless others by practicing biblical stewardship which is to care for and give of the physical and spiritual resources that God has provided for you.

20

Many of man’s philosophies for the rearing of children typically arise from individual experiences. Moreover, in the area of bringing up children, even Christians often look to ungodly counsel, or to “common sense,” rather than to the sole authority and totally sufficient standard of the Scriptures.

21

God intends and expects marriage to be a lifetime commitment between a man and a woman, based on the principles of biblical love. The relationship between Jesus Christ and His church is the supreme example of the committed love that a husband and wife are to follow in their relationship with each other.

22

Asking for forgiveness from others in a scriptural manner involves acknowledging that you have sinned against them and that you desire mercy and pardon (not to be given what you deserve). Asking for forgiveness is vital for reconciliation and may lead to the difference in the relationship.

23

Every person in the world, including yourself, will encounter various trials throughout life. Satan seeks to defeat you by tempting you to trust your own wisdom, to live according to your self-centered feelings, and to gratify the desires of your flesh. In contrast, God’s will is for you to be an overwhelming conqueror in all of these tests for His honor and glory.

24

Man, in his own wisdom, has developed a vast number of philosophies and theories seeking to explain one’s thoughts, words, and actions. In doing so, man has pridefully sought to deny his own sinfulness and has confused any clear definition of God’s standards of right and wrong.

25

The hope that God has provided for you is not merely a wish.  Neither is it dependent on other people, possessions, or circumstances for its validity. Instead, biblical hope is an application of your faith that supplies a confident expectation in God’s fulfillment of His promises. Coupled with faith and love, hope is part of the abiding characteristics in a believer’s life.

26

Your hope as a believer is in the Lord. He causes all things in your life (including problems and trials) to work together for good as you continually respond in love (demonstrated through obedience) to Him. Out of the hope that God provides, your faith and love can be biblically expressed in any situation. Understanding and responding biblically to problems glorifies God while He further conforms you to the image of Jesus Christ.

27

The wisdom of this world deceptively teaches that believing in the inherent goodness of one’s “self” is foundational to a fulfilled life. However, this erroneous viewpoint overlooks the devastating results of Adam and Eve’s failure to obey God. Scripture teaches that a fulfilled life is not dependent of having a “good self-image” or a “higher self-esteem.” Instead, fulfillment in living depends on your relationship to God and a biblical response to the problem of “self.”

28

Anger and bitterness are formidable detriments to biblical love, harmonious relationships, and maturity in Christ. Failing to put off anger and bitterness grieves the Holy Spirit, gives Satan an opportunity in your life, obscures your witness to others, and disrupts the unity in the Body of Christ. Dealing biblically with anger and bitterness requires wholehearted obedience to God’s Word in every circumstance and with every person, even if your feelings dictate otherwise.

29

Anger and bitterness are two noticeable signs of being focused on self and not trusting God’s sovereignty in your life. When you believe that God causes all things to work together for good to those who belong to Him and love Him, you can respond to trials with joy instead of anger or bitterness.

30

As an obedient believer, you are to stand firm in the strength of the Lord, to be sober in spirit, and to remain alert in order to resist the schemes of the devil. However, in all areas of your walk as a believer, you are incapable in your own strength and insufficient in your own resources to overcome the wiles and temptations of Satan. Therefore, you must put on the full armor of God to be an overwhelming conqueror in your continuing spiritual battle.

31

God has defeated Satan through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through this overwhelming victory, God has also empowered you to overcome any temptation to sin and has provided sufficient resources for you to respond biblically to any problem of life. By relying on God’s power and being obedient to His Word, you can be an overcomer in any situation.

32

When you live to please yourself, circumstances that God designs to teach you to trust and obey Him instead become temptations for you to fear and worry.

33

You demonstrate biblical love when you take steps to restore a fellow-believer overtaken in sin. This not only encourages a fallen believer to return to his first love of Jesus Christ, but it also gives others involved in the restoration process on-going opportunities to examine the depth of their love to the Lord.

34

Your words and the manner in which you speak are critical to harmonious relationships. As you learn to speak the truth in love, you must also determine when to speak, how to speak in an edifying manner, and to whom you should speak. The power of your words is enormous, and they also show the condition of your heart. Even your idle words will be accounted for in the Day of Judgment.

35

You can never truly understand or help others, even in your own family, unless you first look thoroughly into your own life and deal with your own sins without compromise, excuses, or evasion (Matthew 7:1-5).

36

Memorizing Scripture is beneficial because it:

1. Helps to renew your mind and change your thought life, establishing permanent change in your entire manner of life and conduct (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2-3).

2. Follows the example of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 4:1-10).

3. Equips you to use Scripture in everyday situations (for example: Acts 2:16-21, 25-28; 3:22-23; 13:40-41, 47).

4. Allows God’s Word to be the foundation of your life (Deuteronomy 6:6-8).

5. Provides guidance (Psalm 119:24, 105).

6. Develops confidence in witnessing (Isaiah 55:11).

7. Establishes a fountain to conquer temptation (for example: Matthew 4:1-10) and to gain victory over sin (Psalm 119:9-11).

8. Becomes an integral part of your prayer life (for example: Acts 4:24-31).

9. Enables you to teach, counsel, encourage, and build up others in the Body of Christ (Colossians 3:16).

10. Provides a basis for meditation On God’s Word (Psalm 119:15-16, 97).

11. Makes the Word of God readily available for comfort (Psalm 119:52).

12. Keeps God’s Word ready to refresh or revive (Psalm 119:93).

13. Provides stability in your spiritual life (Psalm 37:31; 40:8).

14. Gives you the truth so that, at times of need, you are ready to answer others concerning your source of hope (Proverbs 22:17-21; 1 Peter 3:15).

37

You are commanded to put aside the sinful practices of your old self, to be changed by a renewing of the mind, and to put on Christlike practices of your new self.  Memorizing God’s Word is foundational to that process.

38

In addition to teaching your children throughout the day, you must set aside specific, planned times to worship the Lord and learn His Word together. Conducting family devotions requires planning and diligence if this godly practice is to develop and be maintained in your home.

39

When you willingly or unknowingly are under the control of any power other than God’s Holy Spirit (e.g., drugs, alcohol, sex, another person, your peer group, a false religion, a self-centered habit such as gossip or laziness, or a self-oriented desire for power, food, or wealth), you are in bondage to sin. However, God has broken the power of sin through the Lord Jesus Christ, and you can overcome sinful habits by depending on His strength and being obedient to His Word.

40

The process of biblical change, explained in God’s Word, begins when you repent of your sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. God has given you everything you need to make the changes in your life that will please Him and will lead to His blessings. As you continue to obey God’s Word, biblical change toward maturity will occur in your life until you see Jesus face to face.