Rick Warren Quotations | Page 3

The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel determines the way you act.

Surrender . . .sacrificing my life or suffering in order to change what needs to be changed

After learning to love God (worship), learning to love others is the second purpose of your life.

When you use your life for God's glory, everything you do can become an act of worship

If someone broke your heart it doesn't mean you should build a wall around it and quit loving. Redirect your love.

Your value is not determined by your valuables, and God says the most valuable things in life are not things!

Longing for the ideal while criticizing the real is evidence of immaturity. On the other hand, settling for the real without striving for the ideal is complacency. Maturity is living with the tension.

Great opportunities may come once in a lifetime, but small opportunities surround us every day.

Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. Humility is thinking more of others.

Every problem is a character-building opportunity, and the more difficult it is, the greater the potential for building spiritual muscle and moral fiber.

The first step to becoming what God made you to be is to stop worrying about what others want you to be.

Worry is focused thinking on something negative. Meditation is doing the same thing only focusing on God's word instead of your problem.

God's ultimate goal for your life on earth is not comfort, but character development. He wants you to grow up spiritually and become like Christ.

You don't have to be famous to be great.

Your commitments can develop you or destroy you, but either way, they will define you.

Learning to love unselfishly is not an easy task. It runs counter to our self-centered nature.

If there was more courting in marriage, there'd be fewer marriages in court. Date your mate. Today.

People aren't things to be molded; they are lives to be unfolded. And that's what true leaders do. They unfold the lives of others and help them reach their God-given potential.

A great commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will grow a great church.

Worry is the warning light that shows I’ve stopped looking to God to meet my needs.

A godly man is never threatened by the gifts of a godly woman.

If others don't use their gifts, you get cheated, and if you don;t use your gifts, they get cheated.

If you want your life to have impact, focus it! Stop dabbling. Stop trying to do it all. Do less. Prune away even good activities and do only that which matters most. Never confuse activity with productivity. You can be busy without a purpose, but what's the point?

Humility is not denying your strengths, humility is being honest about your weaknesses.

Many people are reluctant to show mercy because they don't understand the difference between trust and forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past. Trust has to do with future behavior.

Fear is a self imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what God intends for you to be. You must move against it with the weapons of faith and love.

Through salvation our past has been forgiven, our present is given meaning, and out future is secured.

If you aren't serving, you're just existing, because life is meant for ministry.

Character is both developed and revealed by tests, and all of life is a test.

Because God is with you all the time, no place is any closer to God than the place where you are right now.

People are interested by talent. God is impressed by character

For God to mend your broken heart you must give him ALL the pieces. You can't hold any back.

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.

Resentment always hurts you more than it does the person you resent. While your offender has probably forgotten the offense and gone on with life, you continue to stew in your pain, perpetuating the past. Listen: those who hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you now unless you hold on to the pain through resentment. Your past is past! Nothing will change it. You are only hurting yourself with your bitterness. For your own sake, learn from it, and then let it go.

It’s not what you do, but how much love you put into it that matters.

God is never in a hurry, but he is always on time.

The fact is, ministry is too unpredictable to be motivated by security. It’s too unprofitable to be motivated by money. It’s too demanding to be motivated by pleasure, and it’s too criticized to be motivated by fame. Our ministry should be motivated by the pleasure of God, and God is pleased when we have a ministry powered by faith.

A non-serving Christian is a contradiction in terms.

If you want to know why you were jplaced on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.

There is no growth without change, no change without fear or loss and no loss without pain.

We may not always finish what we start but God always finishes what He starts.

I do believe in what I call the stewardship of influence as well as the stewardship of affluence. And that is you use whatever God gives you not for your own benefit, but use it to help people who have no benefit. And when you use whatever God gives you, he gives you more of it. When you use it well, he gives you more of it.

On Thanksgiving we do just everything except give thanks. We eat, we watch football, we have a good time with family. Almost nobody gives thanks to God at Thanksgiving, unless there's a short prayer before we eat.

You discover your identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The more God gives you, the more responsible he expects you to be.

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

God sometimes removes a person from your life for your protection. Don't run after them.

God's LOVE is Like an Ocean; You can See its Beginning, but not its end.

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.

Don't' call it a failure, call it an education. Some of us are very educated.

If you're losing the battle against a persistent bad habit, an addiction, or a temptation, and you're stuck in a repeating cycle of good intention-failure-guilt, you will not get better on your own. You need the help of other people. Some temptations are only overcome with the help of a partner who prays for you, encourages you, and holds you accountable.

Life is a series of problem-solving opportunities. The problems you face will either defeat you or develop you depending on how you respond to them.

When God gives, he holds nothing back.

The deepest level of worship is praising God inspite of pain, trusting Him during a trial, surrendering while suffering, and loving Him when He seems distant.

Your wisest moments will be those when you say yes to God.

There is nothing you can do that will make God stop loving you. You could try, but you simply can't do it - because his love for you is based upon his character and not on anything you do or say or feel.

Blessed are the uncool; for they shall be happy without needing the approval of others.

Gods plan isn't a map for your life that you see all at once, but a scroll unrolled a little at a time.

Keeping your body in shape is a spiritual discipline. Its not just about losing a few pounds, wanting to live longer, or trying to look nicer.

We are only fully alive when we're helping others

If God only used perfect people, He would have no one to use.

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.

He (God) usually prefers to work through people rather than perform miracles, so that we will depend on each other for fellowship.

Real life begins by committing yourself completely to Jesus Christ.

Because God is love, the most important lesson he wants you to learn on earth is how to love.

Nothing shapes your life more than the commitments you choose to make.

Worry is a waste of energy. It cant change the past. It cant control the future. It only makes today miserable

The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now.

Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves that allows us to get on with our lives instead of being trapped in the past by resentment.

Delays are as much a part of God plan as answered prayers. God wants you to trust him.

I'm against redefining marriage historically 5,000 years... because then it'll be re-defined. What if it's between a brother and a sister?

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.

The most common mistake Christians make in worship today is seeking an experience rather than seeking God

What matters in life is not so much what happens to us, but what happens in us

Jesus said, "I am the way [to heaven]." I'm betting that he's not a liar. I'm betting that he told the truth.

A pretentious, showy life is an empty life; a plain and simple life is a full life.

God's Word is your owner's manual for life. It contains principles for health, finance, marriage, other relationships, business, and much more.

I dare you to try trusting Jesus for 60 days. Or your money guaranteed back.

The greatest use of your words is prayer. Talk to God about EVERYTHING, all the time. Maintain a running conversation.

If a pastor focuses only on teaching, he grows members with big ears and rears but tiny hands and hearts.Service is MODELED not taught.

Be grateful for who you are and whatever you have. Everything you have is a gift from God.

If God was small enough for you to completely understand him, he wouldn't be big enough for you to completely trust him.

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.

Racism is stupid. It’s an insult to God, arrogantly implying that God goofed-up when he chose to make us all different.

Doing the easy thing makes you popular. Doing the hard thing makes you a leader.

If you want God to bless you and use you greatly, you must be willing to walk with a limp the rest of your life, because God uses weak people.

When pressure builds up, don't panic. Pray! Prayer is a tremendous stress reliever. It can be your safety valve.

If you have felt hopeless, hold on! Wonderful changes are going to happen in your life as you begin to live it on purpose.

Receiving, reading, researching, remembering, and reflecting on the Word of God are all useless if we fail to put what we learn into practice.

Integrity is built by defeating the temptation to be dishonest; humility grows when we refuse to be prideful; and endurance develops every time you reject the temptation to give up.

Failure isn't a character quality. It's just an event. How you respond to failure is your character.

All leaders are learners. The moment you stop learning, you stop leading. I learn as much as I can, from as many as I can, as often as I can.

If you prayed as much as you complain and quarrel, you'd have a lot less to argue about and much more peace of mind.

The more you care about the powerless, the more power you have. The more you serve those with no influence, the more influence God gives you. The more you humble yourself, the more you're honored by others.

Remember that your character is the sum total of your habits.

The most desired gift of love is not diamonds or roses or chocolate. It's focused attention.

In deep pain, people don't need logic, advice, encouragement, or even Scripture. They just need you to show up and shut up.

While we wait for God to work for us, God is waiting to work through us.

A dad stands tallest when he kneels to pray with his children.

Our time on earth and our energy, intelligence, opportunities, relationships, and resources are all gifts from God that he has entrusted to our care and management. We are stewards of whatever God gives us. This concept of stewardship begins with the recognition that God is the owner of everything and everyone on earth. ... We never actually own anything during our brief stay on earth. God just loans the earth to us while we're here. It was God's property before you arrived, and God will loan it to someone else after you die.