“We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it. God’s purpose is not limited by your past. He turned a murderer named Moses into a leader and a coward named Gideon into a courageous hero, and he can do amazing things with the rest of your life, too. God specializes in giving people a fresh start. The Bible says, “What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! … What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record.”
―
Rick Warren
“Sometimes it takes years, but eventually you discover that the greatest hindrance to God’s blessing in your life is not others, it is yourself — your self-will, stubborn pride, and personal ambition. You cannot fulfill God’s purposes for your life while focusing on your own plans.”
―
Rick Warren
“Unfortunately, we forget the cruel details of the agonizing sacrifice God made on our behalf. Familiarity breeds complacency. Even before his crucifixion, the Son of God was stripped naked, beaten until almost unrecognizable, whipped, scorned and mocked, crowned with thorns, and spit on contemptuously.
Abused and ridiculed by heartless men, he was treated worse than an animal.
Then, nearly unconscious fromblood loss, he was forced to drag a cumbersome cross up a hill, was nailed to it, and was left to die the slow, excruciating torture of death by crucifixion. While his lifeblood drained out, hecklers stood by and shouted insults, making fun of his pain and challenging his claim to be God.”
―
Rick Warren
“We bring God glory by serving others with our gifts.”
―
Rick Warren
“What common task could I start doing as if I were doing it directly for Jesus?”
―
Rick Warren
“We are healed to help others. We are blessed to be a blessing. We are saved to serve, not to sit around and wait for heaven.”
―
Rick Warren
“DAY 2 Thinking about My Purpose POINT TO PONDER: I am not an accident. VERSE TO REMEMBER: “I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born.” ISAIAH 44:2 (CEV) QUESTION TO CONSIDER: I know that God uniquely created me. What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?”
―
Rick Warren
“Everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory. ROMANS 11:36 LB”
―
Rick Warren
“Right now, God is inviting you to live for his glory by fulfilling the purposes he made you for. It’s really the only way to live. Everything else is just existing.”
―
Rick Warren
“Lasting change requires new ways of thinking. The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel determines the way you act. If you want to change how you act, you must begin by changing the way you think. Your thoughts are the autopilot of your life.”
―
Rick Warren
“Betsy: "Do you have daddy issues, Warren?"
Warren: "Dad was supportive, intelligent, read to me as a kid, left me a trillion dollars. It's hard to complain.”
―
Rick Warren
“Measured against eternity, our time on earth is just a blink of an eye...”
―
Rick Warren
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.
―
Rick Warren
“Without a purpose, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason. Without a purpose, life is trivial, petty, and pointless.”
―
Rick Warren
“Imagine how much needless frustration could be avoided if we learned from each other’s life lessons. Mature people develop the habit of extracting lessons from everyday experiences.”
―
Rick Warren
