Top 144 Quotes & Sayings by Craig Groeschel - Page 2

Because God loves us, he gives us the freedom to make choices. That's good news if we choose wisely. But it also gives us the capacity to sin.

Good things are not necessarily God things.

You want to make a big bold difference in this world? Then pray big, bold prayers.

Don't blame yourself for the declines, because one day you will credit yourself for the increases.

When happiness becomes our standard for judging truth, things that make us happy give us permission to do some things that otherwise would be considered wrong.

When something goes wrong, what's the best course of action? To change your direction. The word repentance means to stop going one direction (your own way) and turn toward the right direction (God's way). Your past may be a part of who you are, but it certainly doesn't have to define your future. Or if you feel stuck and unable to change directions and move toward God, think of this transformation another way. The Bible says that God is the Potter and we are his clay (Jer. 18:2-6).

We will do anything short of sin to reach people for Christ.

You can have control. You can have growth. But, you can't have both.

The things closest to the heart of God are often the most offensive to the Pharisees.

When we generally make healthy choices about food (or wise choices about life), we tend to move in the right direction, living as we believe God wants us to live. If we make an intentional exception for a special treat or for a diversion, that might not be a big deal. But if we step off the best path, we're tempted to detour into more unwise choices. In that case, your decision does matter.

Don't resent, fear, or judge the next generation, believe in them.

Rather than just reacting to the waves of things that come, ride them with deliberate intention.

Don't build your ministry on what you're against. Build your ministry on what you're for.

Good can be the enemy of great.

God's will is clear about many things. We're to be holy. I like the metaphor that his Word is a lamp to our feet. A lamp may help guide my next one or two steps, but it's not a crystal ball into the future.

Just as we are what we eat physically, we are also what we consume spiritually.

What you fear reveals where you trust God the least

To be great at a few things and experience it, you'll have to say no to many things.

How bad you want something determines what you will do to get it.

I believe Christians often perceive obedience to God as some test designed just to see if we’re really committed to Him. But what if it’s designed as God’s way of giving us what’s best for us?

The longer we view ourselves through a distorted lens, the more likely we are to believe a distorted truth.

As an organization changes your mindset as a leader also has to change. This becomes the lid to you organization. Whenever my organization starts to settle I believe I have to lift my lid, my capacity I have to think and act in a different way to achieve different results.

Gentleman, God created you with the heart of a warrior. Until there’s something you’re willing to die for, you can’t truly live.

If you want your ministry to have ‘it’, more important than anything else we’ve discussed, you must have ‘it’. When it has filtered through your heart - the rare combination of passion, integrity, focus, faith, expectation, drive, hunger, and God’s anointing - God tends to infuse your ministry with ‘it’. He blesses your work. People are changed. Leaders grow. Resources flow. The ministry seems to take on a life of its own.

Your brain does not understand what you are capable of. There is way more inside of you than you can imagine.

Don't insult God with safe living and small thinking.

You can't walk on water until you get yourself out the boat.

As it goes with leaders, so it goes with the whole organization.

The truth: you have what you need. Watch out for excuses. Whenever you're tempted to whine about what you don't have, remember that God has given you everything you need to do everything He wants you to do.

We need to step into certain uncertainty. Without faith it is impossible to please God.

When we love deeply, love makes us do things we wouldn't otherwise do.

Life is uncertain. Eternity is not. Unforgiveness cannot be allowed to last another day. Are you holding a grudge? You will never be more like God than when you forgive. Let it go. Kill the root of bitterness. Let the hurt go and set yourself free.

If you delegate authority, you will build leaders.

You don't have to know what to say or what to do; just listen to the one who sent you.

Belief overflows to behavior. First we need to change what we believe. when we truly change what we believe, we'll gladly change how we behave.

The New Testament is peppered with "one another" reminders. While Scripture says to love another, encourage one another, offer hospitality to one another, be kind to one another, many people are content tolerating one another, if not ignoring one another.

To those of you who are leading LifeGroups, I want you to know, you are the heroes of our mission.

God has blessed me with more than I need. I'm rich. I will not trust in riches but in Him who richly provides. Because I have more, I will give more and do more.

Our thoughts are either focused on what's eternal, life-changing, and true, or lost in the details of our temporary, selfish, false beliefs.

Bitterness is a nonproductive, toxic emotion, usually resulting from resentment over unmet needs.

Most of us could stop doing something that's hindering our passion for Jesus and effectiveness in following him.

Boldness is behavior born out of belief.

To reach people no one else is reaching we must do things no one else is doing

Don't worry when you're being persecuted for God, worry when you're not.

If we want to be better than normal we must move from good intentions to what I call God intentions.

Scripture teaches us that we should trust God and not lean on our own wisdom or understanding. To do this, we have to strive to know God intimately, walking by faith and not by sight. This may not be easy at first, but it starts with simple obedience.

Respect is EARNED but honor is GIVEN.

The things that make us sad, the things that make us righteously angry, or the things we care about that others don’t are often a key that unlocks our reason for living. It’s our burden.

Becoming obsessed with what people think is the quickest way to forget about what God thinks.

You can't change in your own power. If you feel overwhelmed by something bigger than you, let the one who is bigger than all things be the power you need in your weakness.

If you don't know the purpose of something, all you can do is misuse it.

A keystone habit leads to other positive habits and disciplines. These positive traits start a chain reaction that produces other positive outcomes. The presence of these important habits help you become more faithful in other areas of your life. On the other hand, the absence of these key disciplines can impact you negatively.

God can and will break the labels that have held you hostage.

Shame usually follows a pattern—a cycle of self-recrimination and lies that claims life after life. First, we experience an intensely painful event. Second, we believe the lie that our pain and failure is who we are—not just something we’ve done, or had done to us—and we experience shame. And finally, our feelings of shame trap us into thinking that we can never recover—that, in fact, we don’t even deserve to.

We don't have eternal life because we're good, we have it because God is good.

To reach people that no one is reaching you have to do things that no one is doing.

What we value determines what we do.

God often guides by what He doesn't provide.

God doesn't want us to be happy when it causes us to do something wrong or unwise

If you are not offending some Pharisees, you are not being effective.