John Piper

"One of the reasons that today in the Western church our joy is so fragile and thin is that the truth is so little understood--the truth, namely, that eternal life is laid hold of only by a persevering fight for the joy of faith.  Joy will not be rugged and durable and deep through suffering where there is not resolve to fight for it."

John Piper, When I Don't Desire God, p.37

John Piper

"If Christ is followed only because his gifts are great and his threats are terrible, he is not glorified by his followers.  A defective lord can offer great gifts and terrible threats. And a person may want the gifts, fear the threats, and follow a lord whom they despise or pity or find boring or embarrassing, in order to have the gifts and avoid the threats.  If Christ is to be glorified in his people, their following must be rooted not mainly in his promised gifts or threatened punishments, but in his glorious Person."

~John Piper, When I Don't Desire God, p.36

John Piper

"Physical tastes like hot fudge vs. caramel are morally neutral. It's not right or wrong to like the one over the other.  But having a spiritual taste for the glory of Christ is not morally neutral.  Not to have it is evil and deadly.  Not to see and savor Christ is an insult to the beauty and worth of his character.  Preferring anything above Christ is the very essence of sin.  It must be fought."

John Piper, When I Don't Desire God, p.33

John Piper

"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.  Therefore, to make pretensions about honoring him more, while not calling people to the most radical, soul-freeing satisfaction in God alone, is self-contradictory.  It won't happen.  God is  glorified in his people by the way we experience him, not merely by the way we think about him.  Indeed the devil thinks more true thoughts about God in one day than a saint does in a lifetime, and God is not honored by it.  The problem with the devil is not his theology, but his desires. Our chief end is to glorify God, the great Object.  We do so most fully when we treasure him, desire him, delight in him so supremely that we let goods and kindred go and display his love to the poor and the lost."

~John Piper, When I Don't Desire God, p.30-31

John Piper

“Boasting is the response of pride to success. Self-pity is the response of pride to suffering. Boasting says ‘I deserve admiration because I have accomplished so much.’ Self-pity says, ‘I deserve admiration because I have suffered so much.’ Boasting is the voice of pride in the heart of the strong. Self-pity is the voice of pride in the heart of the weak. Boasting sounds self-sufficient. Self-pity sounds self-sacrificing. The reason self-pity does not look like pride is that it appears to be needy. But the need arises from a wounded ego, and the desire is not really for others to see them as helpless, but as heroes. The need that self-pity feels does not come from a sense of unworthiness but from a sense of unrecognized worthiness. It is the response of unapplauded pride.”

~John Piper, Sovereign Grace Blog