Top 739 Quotes & Sayings by Rick Warren - Page 10

You drift through life and let things happen to you, or go by design and say, 'This is what I'm intended to do.' The Bible is very clear that God has a purpose. But even if I know that purpose, I can't fulfill it if I'm out of shape.

Character is never built in a classroom; it is built in the circumstances of life.

You may be Catholic or Protestant or Buddhist or Baptist or Muslim or Mormon or Jewish or Jain, or you have no religion at all. I'm not interested in your religious background. Because God did not create the universe for us to have religion. He came for us to have a relationship with him.

Any time you get serious about using your life the way God wants you to use it, there are going to be people who oppose it.

We don't have to make the bible relevant-it is-but we have to show its relevance. What is irrelevant, in my opinion, is our style of communicating it. We are tending to still use the style from 50 years back that doesn't match who we are trying to reach today.

I don't personally have enough faith to be an atheist.

Great leaders inspire. They maintain a hopeful attitude, even in the face of discouraging setbacks, constant criticism and abundant opposition. People don't follow discouraged leaders. They follow those who persist with hope.

I do believe in hell. Jesus spoke more about hell than heaven - I trust him as the authority, not you, me or anybody else. If hell is not real, then Jesus was a liar and God has a lot of explaining to do on His justice and things like that.

You can learn from anyone if you know the right questions.

Three enemies that will weaken your ministry over time: Self-indulgence, bitterness, and carelessness. Strong people discipline their desires, restrain their reactions, and keep their commitments.

Leaders don't do what they WANT to do;they do whatever is necessary.

I spend most of my time speaking to people who totally disagree with me. I speak to gays, I speak to atheists, I speak to secularists, I speak to Muslims because I am trying to build a bridge between my heart and theirs so Jesus can walk across and they can come to know Christ.

Your spiritual family is even more important than our physical family because it will last forever.

Many people, especially men, feel it is an admission of weakness to ask for help or to express a need. But there is absolutely no shame in needing others.

Everybody's got a worldview. Everybody's betting their life on something. ... You just better know why you're betting what you're betting on.

People ask me, "Are you right wing or are you left wing?" and I always say, "I'm for the whole bird." A one-winged bird didn't ever get off the ground.

Get honest with God, and your focus will shift from just seeing your problems - no matter how overwhelming they seem - to the grace of God.

While you're waiting, God's working.

God does not owe me an explanation for what He does in my life. And if I am looking for that to feel better about my suffering, then I'm not going to get it.

God wants to produce the character of Christ in our lives because he knows that the more we become like him, the more fulfilled we will be.

Every temptation is an offer to doubt God's love and wisdom.

Mother Teresa once said, "Holy living consists in doing God's work with a smile." ... The last thing many believers need is to go to another Bible study.

Worry is really just a form of atheism. Every time you worry, you're acting like an atheist. You're saying, "It all depends on me." That's just not in the Bible.

What is your assurance of salvation? The promise of God's Word. If God says it, that settles it, because God cannot lie. You can trust the promise of God's Word.

It is very clear that the heavens declare the glory of God. We learn a lot about the glory of God without even Scriptures. We know God is organized. We know God likes variety. We know God is powerful. All these things.

If you are serious about changing your life, you are going to have to get into the Bible. You need to read it, study it, memorize it, meditate on it, and apply it.

You are most like Christ, when you remain silent under attack.

I think we live in a pluralistic society where we have to get along with each other and show common grace to each other.

Use "breath prayers" throughout the day, as many Christians have done for centuries. You choose a brief sentence or a simple phrase that can be repeated to Jesus in one breath: "You are with me."

You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.

REAL fellowship is being as committed to each other as we are to Jesus Christ.

When you win, don't swagger. When you lose, don't sulk.

Jesus specialized in menial tasks that everyone else tried to avoid: washing feet, helping children, fixing breakfast, and serving lepers. Nothing was beneath him, because he came to serve.

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.

Explanations don't comfort. You won't feel better if you know why. It won't hurt any less.

You can keep your own religion - Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Mormonism - you just need to add Jesus to the equation. Then you become complete. You become a Buddhist with Jesus, a Hindu with Jesus, a Muslim with Jesus and so on. You can throw out the term Christianity and still be a follower of Jesus. In fact, you can throw out the term Christian too. In some countries, you could be persecuted for calling yourself a Christian, and there is no need for that. Just ask Jesus into your heart, you don't have to identify yourself as a Christian.

We do not have to make the Bible relevant - it already is! But we do have to show its relevance.

Patience puts up with those you'd like to put down

I'd rather live dangerously for Jesus than exist safely for people's approval.

Today there really aren't that many Fundamentalists left; I don't know if you know that or not, but they are such a minority; there aren't that many Fundamentalists left in America. ... Now the word "fundamentalist" actually comes from a document in the 1920s called the Five Fundamentals of the Faith . And it is a very legalistic, narrow view of Christianity, and when I say there are very few fundamentalists, I mean in the sense that they are all actually called fundamentalist churches, and those would be quite small. There are no large ones.

The fact is, you can say you love God and sing that you trust God and put him first, but your checkbook is where you can show just how much God's grace means to you.

What we can't do in heaven is sin and witness. And obviously God didn't leave us here to sin.

I really do feel that these people are brothers and sisters in God's family. I am looking to build bridges with the Orthodox Church, looking to build bridges with the Catholic Church, with the Anglican church.

I developed a long time ago some habits. One of them is what I call "divert daily, withdraw weekly, and abandon annually." Divert daily is everyday you do something that's not work-related. You do something that relaxes you. Then you withdraw weekly. The Bible says every seven days you take a day off. And then abandon annually means you just go out and forget it all.

In every growing church you will find leadership that is not afraid to believe God.

There is a grand designer behind everything. God's plan for your life, all that happens to you, including your mistakes, your sins, and your hurts.

The point is, there are some things worth dying for. There's no doubt about that. And I would die for my family. I would die for my freedom. I would die for my country.

There is an entire generation who was too young to read 'The Purpose Driven Life' 10 years ago but are now asking the critical question, 'What on earth am I here for?'

A church will never grow beyond its capacity to meet needs.

Now, what is Jesus Christ? The fruit of the spirit is a good example. Jesus is total love, total joy, total peace, total patient, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control.

Between this day and the next you will give your life to something. The decision on what that will be will shape your destiny.

Patience is a form of faith. It says, "I trust God. I believe that God is bigger than this problem."

The mission of Tom Peterson and Catholics Come Home to bring souls home to Jesus and the church is critically important during this challenging time in our history. I fully support this New Evangelization project.

Many believe one can be a "good Christian" without joining (or even attending) a local church, but God would strongly disagree.

But no one who is lost has lost one ounce of value to God. Even if you don't have a relationship with him, you have immense value to God.

The things you’re most embarrassed about, most ashamed of, and most reluctant to share are the very tools God can use most powerfully to heal others

My first reaction in pastoral care is not to explain. And again, I don't think the primary purpose of the Bible is to explain suffering. I never have, because the actual explanations are often inadequate. I think the primary purpose of Scripture is to say I am all you need in this suffering and I need comfort.

Christians ought to have a reputation for being the most dependable people at work. They are always aware of who their true boss is.

This drive to always want more is based on the misconceptions that having more will make me more happy, more important, and more secure, but all three ideas are untrue. Possessions only provide temporary happiness. Because things do not change, we eventually become bored with them and then want newer, bigger, better versions.

It seems we are often guilty of being more interested in defending God's Word than in studying it.