100 Quotes About Discipleship

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

Discipline leads us to desire, which matures into delight. Unknown

Our ferocious commitment to our children's safety and success, along with our genuine love, drives us to endure the often unhappy experience of disciplining our children. Unknown

Because children already have a realization of their weakness, is this not the best opportunity to apply the gospel to their hearts? Unknown

The only humility that is really ours is not that which we try to show before God in prayer, but that which we carry with us, and carry out, in our ordinary conduct; the insignficances of daily life are the importances and the tests of eternity, because they prove what really is the spirit that possesses us. Andrew Murray

Jesus-shaped spirituality hears Jesus say "believe and repent, " but the call that resonates most closely in the heart of a disciple is "follow me." The command to follow requires that we take a daily journey in the company of other students. It demands that we be lifelong learners and that we commit to constant growth in spiritual maturity. Discipleship is a call to me, but it is a journey of "we. Michael Spencer

The engine that drives all your activities is hope. What you hope in shapes you. Unknown

It is the tendency of deep feeling to subdue the manner rather than to render it too energetic. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

As much as Henry Kissinger wanted to attribute historical movement to impersonal forces, he too conceded to "the difference personalities make". Walter Isaacson

Jesus does not suffer so as to exclude your suffering. He bears a cross, not that you may escape it, but that you may endure it. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

A prophet is not someone who first had an idea. He is the one to first believe in it and take it to its conclusion. Nassim Nicholas Taleb

When justice is more certain and more mild, is at the same time more efficacious. Alexis De Tocqueville

It was not because I had a strong sense of the virtue of industry, but because Joe had a strong sense of the virtue of industry, that I worked with tolerable zeal against the grain. Charles Dickens

If virtue does not equal powers, powers will be misused. John Howard Griffin

It doesn't follow that the riots mean permanent hostility toward him. Frank Herbert

My son will wear the title well, the Duke thought, and realized with a sudden chill that this was another death thought. Frank Herbert

He made his character his platform. H.W. Brands

He communicates authenticity to an electorate ravenous for it. Frank Bruni

Shallow are the souls that have forgotten how to shudder. Leon Cass Jonathan Haidt

This night he was a king before he was a man. At this time, this troubled me. Later, I would have cause to wish it were always so. Geraldine Brooks

A graceless pastor is a blind man elected to a professorship of optics. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

There will be no fear of your becoming lethargic if you are continually familiar with internal realities. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

As the sun rises first on mountain-tops and gilds them with his light, and presents one of the most charming sights to the eye of the traveller; so is it one of the most delightful contemplations in the world to mark the glow of the Spirit's light on the head of some saint, who has risen up in spiritual stature. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Expect progress, not perfection. Unknown

I assumed my first undivided responsibility. Charles Dickens

When you choose to love someone who is no longer attractive to you, he or she will become attractive. Unknown

Dinner is a cacophonous exercise of holy sanctification. Jen Pollock Michel

They finally achieve a sort of outward-facing union. David Brooks

The choice we face is not, as many imagine, between heaven and hell. Rather, the choice is between heaven and this world. Even a fool would exchange hell for heaven; but only the wise will exchange this world for heaven. Dave Hunt

One of the emotional affordances of digital communication is that one can always hide behind deliberated nonchalance. Sherry Turkle

We have been shown how to fight hate without becoming hate ourselves. We have been given a Companion and a Friend and not just a good idea. We have been given joy in the midst of failure, and not just a way of winning or being right. Richard Rohr

I fall down I get up I fall down And the while I keep dancing. Japanese Poem

Safe in the sovereignty of the Godhead, we can count on the fact that WE, rather than just our friends, enemies, or circumstances, will be transformed. Brian Eshleman

You will find it a stronghold in the day of trial to plead your adoption. You have no rights as a subject, you have forfeited them by your treason; but nothing can forfeit a child's right to a father's protection. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Faith is the angelic messenger between the soul and the Lord Jesus in glory. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Will you not this day make it your prayer? "Lord, help me to glorify Thee; I am poor, help me to glorify Thee by contentment; I am sick, help me to give Thee honour by patience; I have talents, help me to extol Thee by spending them for Thee; I have time, Lord, help me to redeem it, that I may serve Thee; I have a heart to feel, Lord, let that heart feel no love but Thine, and glow with no flame but affection for Thee; I have a head to think, Lord, help me to think of Thee and for Thee; Thou hast put me in this world for something, Lord, show me what that is, and help me to work out my life-purpose. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The Christian knows no change with regard to God. He may be rich to-day and poor to-morrow; he may be sickly to-day and well to-morrow; he may be in happiness to-day, to-morrow he may be distressed-but there is no change with regard to his relationship to God. If He loved me yesterday, He loves me to-day. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

See, loving heart, how He delights in you. When you lean your head on His bosom, you not only receive, but you give Him joy; when you gaze with love upon His all-glorious face, you not only obtain comfort, but impart delight. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

He had been present in their minds not as a man but as an idea. Barbara W. Tuchman

Accustomed to motion, he was forced to be still. H.W. Brands

Eric Erikson writes that in their search for identity, adolescents need a place of stillness, a place to gather themselves. Sherry Turkle

I wouldn't serve a God who wouldn't speak to me. George Foreman Davis Miller

The commencement of all labor consisted in the preparation of his own soul. Charles Haddon Spurgeon

By nature, we get more pleasure from God's gifts then from Himself. John Piper

The Christian life doesn't work because we are such great followers. It works because Christ is such a great Leader. David McGee

Happiness is activity of soul. Aristotle

Passion is a far better prioritizer than any organization system. Soul refreshment comes from SEEING glory — not getting stuff done. Leland Ryken

We are not trying to manipulate God and tell Him what to do. Rather, we are asking Him to tell us what to do. Richard J. Foster

Thomas Merton writes that if we have meditated on the events of the Passion but have not meditated on Dachau and Auschwitz, our perception of God at work in present times is incomplete. Richard J. Foster

The most precious gifts you can think of are not ends in themselves. They all lead to God. Ultimately, that is what all His gifts are for. John Piper

This message God was communicating to mankind, this Gospel of Jesus, was a message to the heart as much as to the head, that the methodology was as important as the message itself, that the message could not be presented accurately outside of the emotions within which these truths were embedded. Donald Miller

The little estimate we put on prayer is evidence from the little time we give to it. E.M. Bounds

God answered prayers first by teaching the need to ask, second by using friends as holy messengers. Davis Bunn

Lord, I am willing to break MY heart that I might satisfy THY heart. Watchman Nee

God will not give me humility, or patience, or holiness, or love as separate investments of His grace. He has given only one gift to meet our need, His Son Christ Jesus. Watchman Nee

Not only did Jesus purposefully enter the wilderness on a regular basis but historically, God seems to prefer meeting with man in these desert regions. Amy Layne Litzelman

Just open your eyes! I thought. These desperate poor are your gurus. Martin Sheen

Half of learning is learning. The other half of learning is unlearning. Mark Batterson

Father to teenage son: "My relationship with you is more important than anything I've got to say to you. Randy Alcorn

The way to transmute the pain of life is to reveal the wounded side of things, evil, even, and then place the wound inside of sacred space. The Bible is about naming, facing, and then forgiving the wounds of history. Richard Rohr

Whatever God permits to happen in your life is a gift to you. God has two goals... His Glory and Your Good! Kingsley Opuwari Manuel

Laboratory research suggests that how we look and act in the virtual affect our behavior in the real. Sherry Turkle

In the face of Jesus’ dogged steadfastness, how could we but offer him our own loyal allegiance? As we have seen, our decision to serve Jesus should be made not in order to earn Jesus’ grace but as a response to it. He who has given so much for us can rightly call us to lay down our lives for him. Recognizing that we will continue to stumble and fall short of his impeccable standard, we nonetheless strain onward out of gratitude for his mercy and kindness to us. Why do we serve the poor or preach the Gospel? Why do we continue with the otherwise foolish work of peace-making or justice-seeking? Not out of some neurotic fear of losing God’s favor but precisely because we have tasted that favor and would do anything for the one who died to win it for us. . Michael Frost

Our wounds are the only thing humbling enough to break our attachment to our false self. Richard Rohr

We do not handle suffering. Suffering handles us. Richard Rohr

Watch out for schools that promise your kids will "experience success." I'm teaching Plato's Dialogues these days, and I noticed that Socrates never let his students experience success. Socrates won the argument every time. David Kahn

The struggle of today, is not altogether for today - it is for a vast future also. Abraham Lincoln

The idyll ended, as idylls must. Philip Zaleski

Thy faith never looks so grand in summer weather as it does in winter? Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Sometimes the imagination could be even crueler than the bone saw. Robert Kurson

Paul looked down at the hand that had known pain, and then up to the Reverend Mother. The sound of her voice contained a difference than from any other voicing his experience. The words were outlined in brilliance. There was an edge to them. Frank Herbert

Pain is holy ground in a person's life. Jason Gray

King was a transformed person. Evil was no longer a theory. Troy Jackson

At Gethsemane: "Jesus is subordinating His loudest desires to His deepest desires. Timothy J. Keller

Resurrection hope turned those who believed it into a counter-empire, an alternative society that knew the worst that tyrants could do and knew that the true God had the answer. Bible Review

People who have been initiated "broke through in what felt like breaking down". Richard Rohr

You've been told that you're broken, that you're damaged goods and should be labeled victims. I don't buy it. The truth, instead, is that you are the only folks with the skills, determination, and values to ensure American dominance in this chaotic world. James Mattis

Hurt is a great teacher, maybe the greatest of all. Pat Conroy

Battles are won, not with weapons, but with God. They are won where the way leads to the cross. Megan McKenna

Faith is an action. He (one criminal on the cross) puts himself one step lower than where he was, sharing Jesus' place of poverty, insecurity, and the focus of rage. Remember me. And he will be remembered, because of his association with the Crucified One. Megan McKenna

Who are we aligning ourselves with? Are we aligning ourselves with the presence of God as it is abused, broken, bleeding, and mocked and scorned even now in this world? Do we take that one step down, risking insecurity, violence, guilt by association, to stand beside those who are both victim and accused, and public sinner — criminal and despised in society? Megan McKenna

Failure means nothing now, only that it taught me life. Elisabeth Elliot

The onslaught of scruples is a problem well attested in the spiritual life, especially among the young, where religious observances must be done perfectly to achieve a certain result. Philip Zaleski

I had escaped the snare of certitude that I welcomed so avidly at first and entered, via the name of Jesus, the wide and comprehensive company of Jesus. Eugene H. Peterson

He's not a safe safe or a tame God, securely lodged behind the bars of a distant Heaven; He has the most annoying manner of showing up when we least want Him; of confronting us in the strangest ways. Thomas Merton

We have to make these young people (of the Depression) feel that they are necessary. (They should be given) "certain things for which youth craves — the chance for self-sacrifice for an ideal. Eleanor Roosevelt

Jesus lived in occupied territory, in poverty and misery, and his stories and preaching are all about food, land, liberation from bondage and servitude and get. He preached about providing for those who lacked the most and were considered expendable, as the birds of the air, and yet in Jesus' eyes were where one found the treasure of heaven, here, now, on earth. Megan McKenna

Cheap grace is the mortal enemy of the church Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The only way to be productive is to realize we don't HAVE TO be productive. Our goal is to PLEASE God, not APPEASE God. Matt Perman

We have created a culture of leadership "development" in the Church at the expense of ignore the ministry of the Church to making disciples. John Paul Warren

It only makes sense to me when I can get in trouble for it. — Maya Girl Meets World

I take account of my life and find that I have lived a lot and learned very little. Pat Conroy

I liked to put young and old in the same room, because they would certainly have different takes on the same problem. Unknown