A few quotes from Openness Unhindered

Openness Unhindered is the latest book by Rosaria Butterfield, the author of Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert. If you haven't read her first book, read it. It's a testimony to the present and active power of the gospel. Her second book, however, is less focused about her journey to Christ and more on what the Bible has to say about our identity (specifically sexual identity), temptation, repentance, and living our lives unto God. I'm only halfway through Openness Unhindered, and it is excellent so far. Here are a few quotes that jumped off the page:

It is not the absence of sin that makes you a believer. It is the presence of Christ in the midst of your struggle that commends the believer and sets you apart in the world. Real conversion gives you Christ's company as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death. (pg. 8)

If I create an identity carved out of my person pain, even one caused by the sins of my flesh, I will forever struggle in a separate sphere from my God. For that reason, I believe that my personal experience must always be surrendered to what my triune God has done and who my triune God is... I cannot find my identity in what I have done I can only find my identity in what God has done and is doing. (pg. 38)

Call sin what it is... If you bring a baby tiger into your house, buy it a collar and leash and name it, "Fluffy," don't be surprised if you wake up one day and Fluffy is eating you alive. That is how sin works, and Fluffy knows her job. (pg. 86)

A biblical solution to the problem of shame is a godly understanding of both law and grace, remembering that confession of sin glorifies God, and that the promises of God's covenant with you are a banquet of encouragement... Only a Christian walking with the kind company of the Holy Spirit could find peace and joy and God's love in repentance of sin. (pg. 89)

[L]oyal fellowship of believers is not an "add on" to good doctrine. Fellowship of believers is often the vein through which the Savior's blood pumps us whole and well... In a real Christian community, there is no shame in repentance. Real Christian communities view repentant sinners as God sees them: cleansed and robed in Christ's righteousness. And we know that the battle with sin is not finished until we die or Christ returns. (pg. 90)