For those who feel their lives are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust and reckless, raging confidence to accept that the love of Jesus Christ knows no shadow of alteration or change. When Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened, " He assumed we would grow weary, discouraged, and disheartened along the way. These words are a touching testimony to the genuine humanness of Jesus. He had no romantic notion of the cost of discipleship. He knew that following Him was as unsentimental as duty, as demanding as love. Brennan Manning
About This Quote

In the first chapter of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus has a conversation with a man who is a sinner. He tells this man that he must first go and sin no more, but after going and sinning no more, then comes the second step. We see this in the life of Nelson Mandela who went from being a terrorist to being a president. In his speech at the memorial service for his wife, he said, "To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

Source: The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News For The Bedraggled, Beatup, And Burnt Out

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  3. You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. - Dr. Seuss

  4. A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you. - Elbert Hubbard

  5. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. - Unknown

More Quotes By Brennan Manning
  1. Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.

  2. The story goes that a public sinner was excommunicated and forbidden entry to the church. He took his woes to God. 'They won't let me in, Lord, because I am a sinner.'' What are you complaining about?' said God. 'They won't let Me in either.

  3. We unwittingly project onto God our own attitudes and feelings toward ourselves... But we cannot assume that He feels about us the way we feel about ourselves -- unless we love ourselves compassionately, intensely, and freely.

  4. Imagine that Jesus is calling you today. He extends a second invitation to accept His Father's love. And maybe you answer, "Oh, I know that. It's old hat." And God answers, 'No, that's what you don't know. <span style="margin:15px; display:block"></span>You don't know how much I...

  5. The Word we study has to be the Word we pray. My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God came not from exegetes, theologians, and spiritual writers, but from sitting still in the presence of the living Word and beseeching Him to help me...

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