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Our hearts of stone become hearts of flesh when we learn where the outcast weeps.

Brennan Manning

We even refuse to be our true self with God- and then wonder why we lack intimacy with him.
BRENNAN MANNING

God Himself Intimacy True
The secret of the mystery is: God is always greater. No matter how great we think Him to be, His love is always greater.
BRENNAN MANNING

God Greatness Himself Mystery Secret Thinking
The gospel declares that no matter how dutiful or prayerful we are, we can’t save ourselves. What Jesus did was sufficient.
BRENNAN MANNING

Declare Prayer Save Scripture Sufficient
Faithfulness requires the courage to risk everything on Jesus, the willingness to keep growing, and the readiness to risk failure throughout our lives.
BRENNAN MANNING

Courage Failure Faith Growth Live Ourselves Risk Willing
The litmus test of our love for God is our love of neighbor.
BRENNAN MANNING

Friendship God Love Neighbor Ourselves Science Test
Craving clarity, we attempt to eliminate the risk of trusting God. Fear of the unknown path stretching ahead of us destroys childlike trust in the Father’s active goodness and unrestricted love.
BRENNAN MANNING

Active Clarity Crave Destroy Elimination Father Restriction Risk
Be daring enough to be different, humble enough to make mistakes, wild enough to be burnt in the fire of love, real enough to make others see how phony you are.
BRENNAN MANNING

Dare Different Enough Fire Humble Love Mistake Phone Yourself
In Love’s service, only wounded soldiers can serve.
BRENNAN MANNING

Love Service Wound
When our inner child is not nurtured and nourished, our minds gradually close to new ideas, unprofitable commitments and the surprises of the Spirit.
BRENNAN MANNING

Children Commitment Gradual Mindset Nourish Nurture Spirit
Jesus comes for sinners, for those outcast and those caught up in squalid choices and failed dreams.
BRENNAN MANNING

Choice Dreams Failure God Sin
A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God.
BRENNAN MANNING

Difference Experience God Goodness
To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God’s grace means.
BRENNAN MANNING

Acknowledgement God Grace Learning Live Meaning Myself Shadow
The dominant characteristic of an authentic spiritual life is the gratitude that flows from trust — not only for all the gifts that I receive from God, but gratitude for all the suffering. Because in that purifying experience, suffering has often been the shortest path to intimacy with God.
BRENNAN MANNING

Authentic Character Dominant Experience Flow God Gratitude Intimacy Life Purity Spiritual Trust
When we wallow in guilt, remorse, and shame over real or imagined sins of the past, we are disdaining God’s gift of grace.
BRENNAN MANNING

Gift Grace Guilt Imagination Reality Shame
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.
BRENNAN MANNING

Assumption Attitude Compassionate Freedom God Projection
If in our hearts we really don’t believe that God loves us as we are, if we are still tainted by the lie that we can do something to make God love us more, we are rejecting the message of the cross.
BRENNAN MANNING

Believe Heart Love Lying Message Ourselves Rejection
Letting ourselves be loved by God is more important than loving God.
BRENNAN MANNING

God Important Love Ourselves
Whatever we have done in the past, be it good or evil, great or small, is irrelevant to our stance before God today. It is only NOW that we are in the presence of God.
BRENNAN MANNING

Day Evil Goodness Ourselves Past Presence
Jesus reveals a God who does not demand but who gives; who does not oppress but who raises up; who does not wound but who heals; who does not condemn but forgives.
BRENNAN MANNING

Demand Forgiveness Generosity God Healing Oppression Reveal Wound
If asked whether I am finally letting God love me, just as I am, I would answer, ‘No, but I’m trying.
BRENNAN MANNING

God Love Myself Try
The Christian with depth is the person who has failed and who has learned to live with it.
BRENNAN MANNING

Deep Failure Learning Live Person
The sorrow of God lies in our fear of Him, our fear of life, and our fear of ourselves. He anguishes over our self-absorption and self-sufficiency… God’s sorrow lies in our refusal to approach Him when we sinned and failed.
BRENNAN MANNING

Failure Fear God Himself Life Lying Sin Sorrow
Genuine self-acceptance is not derived from the power of positive thinking, mind games or pop psychology. IT IS AN ACT OF FAITH in the God of grace.
BRENNAN MANNING

Acceptance Faith God Grace Positive Power Thinking
Childlike surrender and trust, I believe, is the defining spirit of authentic discipleship.
BRENNAN MANNING

Authentic Believe Childhood Discipline Spirit Surender Trust
We should be astonished at the goodness of God, stunned that He should bother to call us by name, our mouths wide open at His love, bewildered that at this very moment we are standing on holy ground.
BRENNAN MANNING

Astonish Call God Goodness Holy Moments Name Stand Stunning
Assured of your salvation by the unique grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” is the heartbeat of the gospel, joyful liberation from fear of the Final Outcome, a summons to self-acceptance, and freedom for a life of compassion toward others.
BRENNAN MANNING

Acceptance Compassionate Heart Life Religious Scripture Yourself
God is enough. That is the root of peace. When we start seeking something besides Him, we lose it.
BRENNAN MANNING

Enough God Himself Lose Peace Seek Start

Our hearts of stone become hearts of flesh when we learn where the outcast weeps.

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Our hearts of stone become hearts of flesh when we learn where the outcast weeps.

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