Edward T. Welch Quotes & Sayings

To paraphrase Augustine, if you want to know your God-given gifts, first know that the purpose of spiritual gifts is to bring unity to the church. Then "love God and do what you feel like doing." But there is more to the unleashing of gifts in the body. One of the bad fruits of an "I" church is that we don't tell people when they bless us. If someone has taught Sunday school and helped us understand a passage of Scripture, then we should tell the person and encourage his or her gift. If worship leaders left us rejoicing that we have been with God's people in his presence, then thank them for the specific ways they blessed you and the church. No one should have to ask what their gifts are; we should tell people their gifts as they minister to us. Can — Edward T. Welch

The gospel is only available to people who know they are unclean. — Edward T. Welch

"Sinner" is a present-tense description of everyone, including those who have put their faith in Christ. Of course, those who have called Jesus "Lord" are justified, meaning that they are no longer guilty. Also, they have been given the Spirit, which makes them slaves to Christ rather than to sin. But we all are sinners. Perfection awaits eternity. — Edward T. Welch

in view of God's sovereign control, God will accomplish his purposes in our lives even when we make decisions we later regret. — Edward T. Welch

When you have to manage the world, please everyone, earn more than you did last year, and work off five pounds, you will be driven. If not, you run the risk of being un-American or even un-Christian because our economy and churches rely on such people. Even when paralyzed by circumstances, a stressed person is a driven person. — Edward T. Welch

Yes, genuine pain and loss coexisted with the deliverance, but it did not have the last word. Its power to hurt him was weakened because he could see the bigger things God was doing in, for, and through him. You can probably find similar events in your life. Hard things persisted, there was no apparent deliverance, but, with closer inspection, you notice a deliverance that went much deeper. And these are eleventh-hour deliverances on this side of death and eternity. Imagine if you gradually developed the spiritual skill to see beyond the immediate moment and catch a glimpse of the glories to come. The basic outline is clear: if you have thrown your lot in with Jesus, everything he has is yours, even the kingdom itself. It would be impossible to ask for more. Those who imitate Abraham's faith are always pushing the last minute farther out until it comes even after physical death. Such a person is fearless. A — Edward T. Welch

These days, shame is emerging from the shadows and beginning to have its own identity. For example, if you talk about guilt to people under thirty, you often get blank stares. But if you talk about "worthless," "failure," or "shame," they feel as if you have deciphered the core of their being. For them, shame is arguably the human problem. If the next generation is talking about it, that's a good sign, in the sense that shame may soon receive the attention it deserves. Meanwhile, you won't hear about it on the national news nor even in many Sunday sermons. It's hard to know how to speak about the unspeakable. You don't mention shameful things in polite conversation. — Edward T. Welch

To look to Christ to meet our perceived psychological needs is to Christianize our lusts. We are asking God to give us what we want, so we can feel better about ourselves or so we can have more happiness, not holiness, in our lives. — Edward T. Welch

It is as if we want to believe the lie. Perhaps we blame ourselves because in a strange way it helps us feel as if we have more control. If we are responsible for whatever went wrong, for whatever hurt us, we might be able to figure out how to keep it from happening again. — Edward T. Welch

Do you believe that it is impossible for the Holy God to love you and even delight in you? If so, you are believing Satan's lie that God loves you because of what you do. The truth is that he loves you because he is the God who loves, and the sacrifice of Jesus proves it. The cross of Christ expresses God's delight in all who believe, and if you believe that Jesus is the risen Lord, he delights in and loves you. — Edward T. Welch

there is an important difference between embarrassment and shame. Whatever caused your embarrassment has been experienced by everyone else too, at one point or another. Your sense of social isolation was fleeting. Within the hour - or decade - you laugh about it. With shame, you never laugh at it. It feels like unending embarrassment, but it is more than that. Embarrassment doesn't afflict the core of the person's soul, but shame becomes your identity. It touches everything about you. Embarrassment points toward shame, but it wears away over time. For shame to wear away, it feels as though the shame-ful person would have to wear away, and some people have tried such things. — Edward T. Welch

You will either fear God or other people. There are no other alternatives. — Edward T. Welch

Shame is the deep sense that you are unacceptable because of something you did, something done to you, or something associated with you. You feel exposed and humiliated. Or, to strengthen the language, You are disgraced because you acted less than human, you were treated as if you were less than human, or you were associated with something less than human, and there are witnesses. — Edward T. Welch

As a counselor, I have spoken with many people who want to know their spiritual gifts. They come hoping for some sort of diagnostic test that will precisely locate them. My impression is that this perspective represents a breakdown in the church. It reflects a church where we are running around as self-actualizing individuals rather than uniting as a God-glorifying community. — Edward T. Welch

The cure for shame will always be found in how we become connected to God. — Edward T. Welch

Shame is life-dominating and stubborn. Once entrenched in your heart and mind, it is a squatter that refuses to leave. — Edward T. Welch

The gospel is the story of God covering his naked enemies, bringing them to the wedding feast, and then marrying them rather than crushing them. — Edward T. Welch

You never expected that God himself would, by his representatives, actually come close to unclean people and touch them. The Holy One is not human. The triune God is not human. Don't limit God's character by your expectations of what a decent human king might do. You expect God to reject; he accepts. You expect him to turn away; he turns toward. — Edward T. Welch

Since ancient times, people have bowed down to idols in the appearance of humility and contrition. But their goal wasn't to be mastered by the idol. People worship to get things. We choose idols in part because we believe that they will give us what we want. The god of drugs brings fearlessness; the god of sex promises pleasure and intimacy; the god of wealth holds out power and influence. We can feel miserable about ourselves because we want to be great, at least at something, and we are not feeling very great. Like the prophets of Baal, we are arrogant enough to believe that we can manipulate the idol - whether by cutting or some other form of works righteousness - so it will relent and give us what we want. — Edward T. Welch

Jesus always interpreted hardship in light of the end of the story, and at the end of the story we will be without shame. — Edward T. Welch

Sin is guerrilla warfare that is deadly. Just when you think you are in control, it seeks to devour you. — Edward T. Welch

For now, what things have you done that you prefer to keep private? What things in your life do you insist on keeping secret? That's where we will find the shame that is attached to what we do. — Edward T. Welch

Once we get over the mild jolt to our pride - I would like my spouse to love me because she thinks I am the greatest male alive - we couldn't ask for anything better. The character of God is the basis for our connection to him, not our intrinsic worth. Self-worth, or anything we think would make us acceptable to God, would suit our pride but it has the disturbing side-effect of making the cross of Jesus Christ less valuable. If we have worth in ourselves, there is no reason to connect to the infinite worth of Jesus and receive what he has done for us. So if you feel unworthy of God's love, you can turn in one of two directions. You can turn inward, in which case you are looking for a little self-worth to bring to the Lord, and that is pride. Or you can turn to him and discover that he has a heart for the unworthy. He pursues those who, like Hagar, have no glory or honor in themselves. — Edward T. Welch

No one cares about their reputation or their bank account when they find themselves in the shadow of death. — Edward T. Welch

The details of how faith works in spiritual warfare are well known but easily forgotten. — Edward T. Welch

Speaker calls the Christian counselor to look at each person as soul embodied with unique challenges that move us. This is not, he says, the first step before we get on to important business but vital in and of itself. — Edward T. Welch

Here is the rule: the way you live reveals what you really think about God, — Edward T. Welch

When you believe what God has said rather than lies, you are doing valuable work. When you choose hope over despair, your choice has lasting significance. When you get out of bed and persevere in ordinary obedience because you are representing the King, your labor is noticed even by heavenly beings (Ephesians 3:10). When you pursue holiness because you are holy, you find honor that lasts. — Edward T. Welch

If our failure to consistently worship the true God is the key feature of sin, we are sinners all. — Edward T. Welch

Are you worried? Jesus says there is nothing to worry about. It isn't our kingdom, it's God's. We take our cue from the King, and the King is not fretting over anything. He is in complete control. — Edward T. Welch

Humans are needy by design. Will we abandon the myth of independence and seek God? — Edward T. Welch

The key to learning the fear of the Lord is to stay in Scripture. When you are in the Scripture, pray that God would teach you that he is the Holy One. — Edward T. Welch

Anything that erodes the fear of God will intensify the fear of man. — Edward T. Welch

If God used only experts and people of renown, some could boast in their own wisdom, but God's way of doing things is not the same as our way. We ordinary people have been given power and wisdom through the Holy Spirit and are called to love others (John 13:34). — Edward T. Welch

First we saw only our own shame. Now we see that Jesus' shame was deeper than our own, and we were among the scorners. First we saw only our own alienation and rejection. Now we see that Jesus' alienation and rejection was at the hands of the entire world, ourselves included. First we saw only contempt and self-contempt. Now we see that all human contempt was focused on Jesus - and we participated. No matter how stubbornly resistant to change your shame might be, witnessing extreme shame like this will move your shame to second place in your thoughts. This doesn't mean it disappears, but it makes a difference when your shame is number two on your list rather than number one. It makes a huge difference. When Jesus and his shame occupy our attention, our own shame becomes less controlling. Let us "fix our eyes on Jesus" (Hebrews 12:2 NIV). Fix your eyes on the one who absorbed shame and then announced that its reign was over. At least you will no longer feel alone. — Edward T. Welch

Shame's hold over you leads you to believe you don't deserve to be rid of shame. As a result, you treat hope as if it were a contaminated substance. — Edward T. Welch

The fear of man is the sinful exaggeration of a normal experience. — Edward T. Welch

We spend too much time wondering what others may have thought about our outfit or the comment we made in the small group meeting. We see opportunities to testify about Christ, but we avoid them. We are more concerned about looking stupid (a fear of people) than we are about acting sinfully (fear of the Lord). — Edward T. Welch

God tests us because we are so oblivious to the mixed allegiances in our hearts. The purpose of the test is to help us see our hearts and if they are found traitorous, we can turn back to God. — Edward T. Welch

When it comes to addictions, we tend to divide humanity into two groups: those who are prone toward addictions and those who aren't. The reality, of course, is very different. All human beings have already fallen into sin. — Edward T. Welch

Ironically, our desire to clean ourselves actually minimizes the problem of uncleanness. It assumes we can give ourselves a good enough scrubbing to get a little holy before we meet the Holy One. — Edward T. Welch

God does not forgive you based on the quality of your confession or your resolve to be a better person. But you keep thinking otherwise. Your standard is what you would do to someone like yourself, and chances are that you would not let the incident pass quickly. God, however, forgives, for his own name's sake. "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more" (Isa. 43:25). — Edward T. Welch

They are God's liturgy, prepared for you in advance. How — Edward T. Welch

Now listen more carefully to depression. Like all feelings, it is a kind of language. Guilt says, "I am wrong." Anger says, "You are wrong." Fear says, "I am in danger." Depression, too, has a message, but the message is usually not that simple. "Whereas some emotions are clear and unambiguous, depression's language is more heavily encrypted. It might take some decoding before it is understandable, but it is worth the effort. RECONSTRUCTING — Edward T. Welch

Notice how those who have medicated away their hardships with illegal drugs, alcohol, or sex can seem immature. They may look forty-five, but they have the character of an adolescent. Find a person who has weathered storms rather than avoided them and you will find someone who is wise. — Edward T. Welch

People who have experienced war have learned to accept the trials and sufferings of life. Among many wise, older citizens in American society, there is no desperate flight from suffering. Instead, there is a recognition that it is a part of life that can have some benefit. Yet among those in the post-World War II generation, a wisp of happiness is the goal, and suffering must be avoided at all costs. If there are hardships in a relationship, end it. If there is an unpleasant emotion, medicate it. It is a generation that perceives no value to any hardship. Like a pampered child who never experienced the regular storms of life, we lack the skill of growing through our trials. — Edward T. Welch

A lingering sense that something was very wrong with him. That sense is called shame. — Edward T. Welch

Fear of man is always part of a triad that includes unbelief and disobedience. — Edward T. Welch

Think about the nature of depression. Life is turned inward. You already have a sense that, for all practical purposes, God is not present. Add to that your relentless condemnation and pervasive self-criticism, which have persuaded you that God doesn't love you. You couldn't be a more obvious spiritual target if you painted a bull's-eye on your chest. — Edward T. Welch

We spend too much time concealing our neediness. We need to stop hiding. Being needy is our basic condition. There is no shame in it - it's just the way it is. Understanding this, accepting it, and practicing it will make you a better helper. — Edward T. Welch

It is possible that our present-day discussion about needs might be framed more by secular psychological theories than by Scripture. If this is so, we should be careful about saying, "Jesus meets all our needs." At first, this has a plausible biblical ring to it. Christ _is_a friend; God _is_ a loving Father; Christians _do_ experience a sense of meaningfulness and confidence in knowing God's love. It makes Christ the answer to our problems. Yet if our use of the term "needs" is ambiguous, and its range of meaning extends all the way to selfish desires, then there will be some situations where we should say that Jesus does not intend to meet our needs, but that he intends to change our needs. — Edward T. Welch

God created you to trust him and love others. When you are not trusting or not loving, you are disconnected from your purpose, and hopelessness will thrive. — Edward T. Welch

There is a mean streak to authentic self-control. Underneath what seems to be the placid demeanor of those who are not ruled by their desires is the heart of a warrior. Self control is not for the timid. When we want to grow in it, not only do we nurture an exuberance for Jesus Christ, we also demand of ourselves a hatred for sin. — Edward T. Welch

Joy is not the opposite of suffering. If it were, a person practiced in joy could crowd out pain because one couldn't exist with the other. Instead, joy can actually be a companion to suffering. — Edward T. Welch

One reason Christians respond positively to a needs psychology is that it takes people's pain seriously. However, this perspective can actually make pain worse. It compounds pain by suggesting that not did the sins of others hurt deeply, but they also deprived you of something
a right, something you were owed
that is necessary for life. Being deeply hurt by others is hard enough, but when we believe that their sin was a near-lethal blow that damaged the core of our being, the hurt is intensified ... Therefore, one task in counseling is to begin to separate the real hurt from the pain that is amplified by our own lusts and longings. — Edward T. Welch

Need theories can thrive only in a context where the emphasis is on the individual rather than the community and where consumption is a way of life. — Edward T. Welch

Don't let religious-sounding reluctance fool you. When you plead "unworthy" and refuse to be served by God, you place your judgment about yourself above God's. You say you would prefer to go it alone, and you imply that your unworthiness goes beyond the scope of God's mercy and grace. You must think that God cleanses you only from ordinary sins, not from the spectacular ones. — Edward T. Welch

Jesus did not die to increase our self-esteem. Rather, Jesus died to bring glory to the Father by redeeming people from the curse of sin. — Edward T. Welch

Depressed people avoid people and church commitments, but they can also complain about abject isolation. The answer is to humbly accept your purpose. "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Heb. 10:25). Churches are not perfect. How could they be when we are the church? But the Spirit is with the gathering of his people. Church is where you will know more of God's grace. — Edward T. Welch

Yet weakness - or neediness - is a valuable asset in God's community. Jesus introduced a new era in which weakness is the new strength. Anything that reminds us that we are dependent on God and other people is a good thing. Otherwise, we trick ourselves into thinking that we are self-sufficient, and arrogance is sure to follow. We need help, and God has given us his Spirit and each other to provide it. — Edward T. Welch

The basic idea is that those who help best are the ones who both need help and give help. A healthy community is dependent on all of us being both. — Edward T. Welch

In this classic reversal of reality, we do not stand before him, but the King stands before us. We question him; he doesn't question us. The irony of it all! While the name of the Lord was constantly blasphemed by men, Jesus is now accused of being a blasphemer (Matthew 26:65). Talk about a primitive form of defense - projecting your guilt onto another. Could it be any clearer that Jesus had come to the anti-kingdom, where everything was the opposite of the way it was intended? The mocking was nonstop. Accusers took turns kneeling before him, feigning homage. — Edward T. Welch

If we think we are usually good, then God is usually irrelevant. — Edward T. Welch

1. We fear people because they can expose and humiliate us.
2. We fear people because they can reject, ridicule, or despise us.
3. We fear people because they can attack, oppress, or threaten us. These three reasons have one thing in common: they see people as "bigger" (that is, more powerful and significant) than God, and, out of the fear that creates in us, we give other people the power and right to tell us what to feel, think, and do. — Edward T. Welch

Even if medication relieves some of the burden of depression, it may be functioning like aspirin. That is, it takes away some of the symptoms but the root problems persist. — Edward T. Welch

God's self-revelation is a higher authority than our feelings. — Edward T. Welch

Therefore, to fight against hopelessness is to take action in the present. You think that checking off a to-do list is unspiritual? When done by faith, it is heroic. There are paradoxes in depression; there are also apparent paradoxes in the way God works in us. For example, if you want vitality in the present, entrust your future to the Lord. If you want to have glimpses of hope for tomorrow, trust God now. What are your dashed hopes? What have you done with them? Where are your new, emerging hopes? — Edward T. Welch

God's love is a costly love. It never takes the easy path away from relationships. Instead, it plots how to move towards other people. It thinks creatively of ways to surprise them with love. — Edward T. Welch

The more you read Scripture, the more you actually talk to God rather than think about fear. — Edward T. Welch

Anxiety asks for more information so it can be prepared for the coming apocalypse. It also asks for more information so it can manage the world apart from God. — Edward T. Welch

You can't have a deeper relationship if you won't allow yourself to be known. All — Edward T. Welch

When you are confident that you are the Father's treasured possession, you are also confident that his loving care will continue forever. Building warehouses is a waste of time and space. His gifts to you become things you want to give him back in gratitude. Then he gives you even more. — Edward T. Welch

What is shame?
God identifies it. God experienced it. You are not alone. — Edward T. Welch

Isaiah himself was only more aware of his shame as it stood in contrast to the perfection and purity of the Lord. It brought him to despair at his predicament. But despair is not a bad thing when it compels us to trust in or be associated with God himself. — Edward T. Welch

What is shame?
You are shunned.
Faces are turned away from you.
They ignore you, as if you didn't exist.
You are naked.
Faces are turned toward you.
They stare at you, as if you were hideous.
You are worthless, and it's no secret. — Edward T. Welch

When God and spirituality are reduced to our standards or our feelings, God will never be to us the awesome Holy One of Israel. With God reduced in our eyes, a fear of people will thrive. — Edward T. Welch

Humility means that you acknowledge you don't know everything, and you might be especially confused when it comes to God. — Edward T. Welch

Here are some key words to go along with shame: Inferior Alienated Embarrassed Minority Ridiculed Weak Powerless Failure Different Insulted Rejected Inadequate Humiliated Ignored Loser — Edward T. Welch

To establish a Scriptural counseling relationship, the speaker says we must know the person to the level that they feel like they are known and to the level that we are moved by the hardness of their experience. — Edward T. Welch

Confession is always a good place to start when we feel lost. — Edward T. Welch

We are more concerned about looking stupid (a fear of people) than we are about acting sinfully (a fear of God). — Edward T. Welch

There is a resiliency in the human spirit that keeps us going even when we have no reason to continue. — Edward T. Welch

The idea of sin being able to deceive us, suppressing truth so that we believe a lie, should send shivers down our spines. It is one thing to deceive other people. That is scary enough. It is even more frightening when we realize that each lie we tell leaves us more self-deceived. All practiced sin teaches us to believe lies. WE don't often consider the boomerang effect of our deception. In the end it will get us. — Edward T. Welch

Faith is not the presence of warm religious feeling. It's the knowledge that you walk before the God who hears. — Edward T. Welch

With this? Do you live as if this is true? Let's keep going. The Bible isn't just about heaven and only for the by-and-by. It is gritty and real. It is about messed-up people and the way God pursues them. The Bible describes real life - with its ups and downs and our stubborn quests for independence - better than anything — Edward T. Welch

Your future includes manna. It will come. There is no sense devising future scenarios now because God will do more than you anticipate. — Edward T. Welch

Faith feels many different ways. It can be buoyant; it can be depressed and lifeless. Feelings don't define faith. Instead, faith is simply turning to the Lord. — Edward T. Welch

Suffering nags us with questions about God in a way that comfort never could. — Edward T. Welch

When you know that the kingdom is God's alone (though he gives it to us), that is the only thing that can lead to peace and rest. Owners are the ones who do all the worrying; stewards simply listen to the owner's desires and work to implement them. Owners are responsible for the outcome; stewards strive to be faithful. — Edward T. Welch

When you erode the fear of death with the knowledge that you already died [in Christ], you will find yourself moving toward a simple, bold obedience. — Edward T. Welch

People are most similar to God when he is the object of their affection. People should delight in God, as he does in himself. — Edward T. Welch

You don't really know who you are until you have gone through suffering. We can measure our spiritual growth by the way we behave under pressure. — Edward T. Welch

On earth, however, God doesn't prescribe a happy life. Look at some of the Psalms. They are written by people of great faith, yet they run the emotional gamut. One even ends with "darkness is my closest friend" (Ps. 88:18). When your emotions feel muted or always low, when you are unable to experience the highs and lows you once did, the important question is not "How can I figure out what I have done wrong?" but it is, "Where do I turn - or, to whom do I turn - when I am depressed? — Edward T. Welch

Many depressed people have been hurt and rejected by others. They feel as though basic relational needs have not been met, and they will be stuck in depression until they are. Rejection from parents, spouses, or friends has left a profound emptiness that feels like an emotional handicap. What does this have to do with the heart? Consider first the example of Jesus. He is God, but he was truly human. If anything is clear from his life, he didn't get love from people, he never prayed that he would know the love of other people, and he didn't seem emotionally undone by rejection and misunderstanding. Rather, his deepest needs, as noted in his prayers, were for the glory of his Father to be revealed and for his spiritual children to be protected from the evil one and united in love (John 17). The — Edward T. Welch

Since Jesus became thoroughly identified with sin, he would receive its wrath and judgment in our place. This meant he would experience the worst kind of rejection and alienation from the Father, and he would do this for us. — Edward T. Welch

Psychiatric diagnoses are considered to be technical and bounded; you are either in or out. In contrast, a biblical perspective puts many interpersonal differences on a continuum: people may have more or less of something. This is relevant to sins, spiritual gifts, weaknesses, and character qualities. — Edward T. Welch

Hope will only grow in the ground of humility. — Edward T. Welch

The ordinary is not good enough for us; our hubris wants something grandiose. But the ordinary done in obedience to Christ is beautiful, inspired, and oftentimes heroic. — Edward T. Welch

What is shame?
The Son of God, while on a rescue mission of love, was
misunderstood
insulted
betrayed
denied
mocked
spit on
cursed
abandoned
stripped
crucified. — Edward T. Welch

Have you ever thought about Jesus' physical appearance? If you think about the paintings, he was a relatively handsome Dutchman. But if you think about a prophetic description, "he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him" (Isaiah 53:2). To put it diplomatically, he didn't look like much, and sleepless nights filled with prayer vigils probably didn't help. — Edward T. Welch