“There is no way to have a real relationship without becoming vulnerable to hurt. Christmas tells us that God became breakable and fragile.”

Worry is not believing God will get it right, and bitterness is believing God got it wrong.

To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God.

The basic premise of religion– that if you live a good life, things will go well for you– is wrong. Jesus was the most morally upright person who ever lived, yet He had a life filled with the experience of poverty, rejection, injustice, and even torture.

As long as we think we are not that bad, the idea of grace will never change us.

Tolerance isn’t about not having beliefs. It’s about how your beliefs lead you to treat people who disagree with you.

Trust is accepting what God sends into your life whether you understand it or not.

When I forget the gospel I become dependent on the smiles and evaluation of others.

The world values power, comfort, success, and recognition. Jesus frees us to value grief, sacrifice, weakness, and exclusion.

No one is too bad for Jesus. A lot of people think they are too good for Jesus.

God invites us to come as we are, not stay as we are.

God relentlessly offers his grace to people who do not deserve it, or seek it, or even appreciate it after they have been saved by it.

The Bible says that our real problem is that every one of us is building our identity on something besides Jesus.

The Gospel is news of what God has done to reach us. It is not advice about what we must do to reach God.

Generosity is not only about money. There is more than one currency. Let your generosity be pervasive in life.

You don’t fall in love. You commit to it.

God sees us as we are, loves us as we are, and accepts us as we are. But by His grace, He does not leave us as we are.

Find that pursuit that will energize you, consume you, become an obsession.

You don’t have to lose your sense of style once you become a mom!

In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way.

In terms of the way we’re governed, and the way we sort of become complacent.

If you don’t think that you’re the best, how do you become the best?

But it’s become very clear the past nine years that some Americans truly resent thinking before they speak.

With trials, you become wiser.

In the book, D’Artagnan doesn’t actually become an official Musketeer until quite near the end.