If your god never disagrees with you, you might just be worshipping an idealized version of yourself.
TIMOTHY KELLERThe 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.
More Timothy Keller Quotes
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If we have not seen our sin and sought radical forgiveness from God, we will be unable to forgive and to seek the good of those who have wronged us.
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Suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you.
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God became someone we could hurt. Why? To get us back… No other religion-whethe r secularism, Greco-Roman paganism, Eastern religion, Judaism, or Islam-believes God became breakable or suffered or had a body.
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You can’t live the Christian life without a band of Christian friends, without a family of believers in which you find a place.
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There is no way to have a real relationship without becoming vulnerable to hurt. Christmas tells us that God became breakable and fragile.
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The world values power, comfort, success, and recognition. Jesus frees us to value grief, sacrifice, weakness, and exclusion.
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What you do today is shaped by what you believe about tomorrow.
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When we grasp that we are unworthy sinners saved by an infinitely costly grace, it destroys both our self-righteousn ess and our need to ridicule others.
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How you experience your present is completely shaped by what you believe your ultimate future to be.
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You are a totally loved moral failure.
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When Job was prospering, he prayed. When he was suffering, he still prayed.
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Jesus warns people far more often about greed than about sex, yet almost no one thinks they are guilty of it.
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You dont fall into love. You commit to it. Love is saying I will be there no matter what.
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Where you find your significance is where you find your salvation.
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The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe.
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Jesus Christ did not suffer so that you would not suffer. He suffered so that when you suffer, you’ll become more like him.
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This is why so many churches quench the motivation of people for ministry. In our shoes, Paul would say: Remember the grace God has showered on you—what does living out and enjoying that grace look like in this situation?
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It is impossible to forgive someone if you feel superior to him or her.
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All human problems are ultimately symptoms, and our separation from God is the cause.
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Are you living to justify yourself, or are you living because you are justified?
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Everyone says they want community and friendship. But mention accountability or commitment to people, and they run the other way.
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The Christian Gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me.
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It’s impossible to have met the real Jesus and be indifferent. You either bow down in wonder OR go away offended.
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If the church does not identify with the marginalized, it will itself be marginalized. This is God’s poetic justice.
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In the original language, ‘Fear the Lord’ doesn’t mean be afraid. It means sustaining a joyful, astonished awe, and wonder before Him.
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There is a joy available that the deepest grief cannot put out. No circumstance or person can take away the joy God gives.
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