“Life is a struggle, but what most people don’t realize is that our struggle, like Jacob’s, is really a struggle with God! We want to be God, and there’s no way we are going to win that struggle.”
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Rick Warren
“God intentionally allows you to go through painful experiences to equip you for ministry to others.”
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Rick Warren
“While we worry about how fast we grow, God is concerned about how strong we grow. God views our lives from and for eternity, so he is never in a hurry.”
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Rick Warren
“God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.”
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Rick Warren
“Worldly Christians look to God primarily for personal fulfillment. They are saved, but self-centered. They love to attend concerts and enrichment seminars, but you would never find them at a missions conference because they aren’t interested. Their prayers focus on their own needs, blessings, and happiness. It’s a “me-first” faith: How can God make my life more comfortable? They want to use God for their purposes instead of being used for his purposes.”
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Rick Warren
“This next sentence is one of the most important spiritual truths you will ever learn: God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you’re tempted to express the exact opposite quality! Character development always involves a choice, and temptation provides that opportunity.”
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Rick Warren
“Emphasize reconciliation, not resolution.”
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Rick Warren
“When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you'll never get back.Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time”
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Rick Warren
“IT IS YOUR JOB TO PROTECT THE UNITY OF YOUR CHURCH. Unity in the church is so important that the New Testament gives more attention to it than to either heaven or hell. God deeply desires that we experience oneness and harmony with each other. Unity is the soul of fellowship. Destroy it, and you rip the heart out of Christ’s Body. It is the essence, the core, of how God intends for us to experience life together in his church. Our supreme model for unity is the Trinity. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are completely unified as one. God himself is the highest example of sacrificial love, humble other-centeredness, and perfect harmony.”
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Rick Warren
“Pain is the fuel of passion — it energizes us with an intensity to change that we don’t normally possess. C. S. Lewis said, “Pain is God’s megaphone.” It is God’s way of arousing us from spiritual lethargy. Your problems are not punishment; they are wake-up calls from a loving God. God is not mad at you; he’s mad about you, and he will do whatever it takes to bring you back into fellowship with him.”
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Rick Warren
“Knowing your purpose focuses your life.”
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Rick Warren
“The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That’s because we typically begin at the wrong starting point—ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose.”
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Rick Warren
“Henri Nouwen said, “In order to be of service to others we have to die to them; that is, we have to give up measuring our meaning and value with the yardstick of others…. thus we become free to be compassionate.” When you base your worth and identity on your relationship to Christ, you are freed from the expectations of others, and that allows you to really serve them best.”
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Rick Warren
“When you think of the limitation in your life, you may be tempted to conclude, “God could never use me.” But God is never limited by our limitations.”
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Rick Warren
“Eggs do not raise your cholesterol; they do just the opposite.”
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Rick Warren
