“This self-absorbed perspective treats God as a genie who simply exists to serve you in your selfish pursuit of personal fulfillment. But God is not your servant, and if you fall for the idea that life is supposed to be easy, either you will become severely disillusioned or you will live in denial of reality. Never forget that life is not about you! You exist for God’s purposes, not vice versa. Why would God provide heaven on earth when he’s planned the real thing for you in eternity? God gives us our time on earth to build and strengthen our character for heaven.
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Rick Warren
“The fact is, you will never reach your optimum health without paying attention to the spiritual dimensions of your life.”
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Rick Warren
“Life is a struggle, but what most people don’t realize is that our struggle, like Jacob’s, is really a struggle with God! We want to be God, and there’s no way we are going to win that struggle.”
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Rick Warren
“Father, I know you’re going to do some incredible things in your world today. Please give me the privilege of getting in on some of what you’re doing.” In other words, church leaders should stop praying, “Lord, bless what I’m doing” and start praying, “Lord, help me to do what you are blessing.”
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Rick Warren
“Al fin de tu vida en la tierra serás evaluado y recompensado de acuerdo con la manera en que uses lo que Dios te confió. Eso significa todo lo que hagas. Hasta las tareas más simples tienen repercusión eterna. Si todo lo tratas como un encargo, con responsabilidad, Dios promete tres recompensas en la eternidad. La primera, Dios te dará su aprobación y te dirá: «¡Buen trabajo, bien hecho!». Segundo, se te dará un ascenso y una responsabilidad mayor en la eternidad: «Te pondré a cargo de muchas cosas». Entonces serás honrado con un festejo: «Ven y comparte la felicidad del Maestro». Mucha gente no logra darse cuenta de que el dinero es ambas cosas, tanto una prueba como un fideicomiso de Dios. Dios usa las finanzas para enseñarnos a confiar en él, y para mucha gente, el dinero es la prueba más grande de todas. Dios observa cómo lo usamos para probar qué tan confiables somos. La Biblia dice: «Si ustedes no han sido honrados en el uso de las riquezas mundanas, ¿quién les confiará las verdaderas?»
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Rick Warren
“Because God is sovereignly in control, accidents are just incidents in God's good plan for you.”
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Rick Warren
“it’s easy to forget that the pursuit of happiness is not what life is about. Only as we remember that life is a test, a trust, and a temporary assignment will the appeal of these things lose their grip on our lives. We are preparing for something even better. “The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.”
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Rick Warren
“IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.”
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Rick Warren
“Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. If one of them falls down, the other can help him up…Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone. A rope made of three cords is hard to break.” Ecclesiastes 4:9 (TEV)”
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Rick Warren
“God’s power is the key to any transformational change in our lives, including our health.”
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Rick Warren
“IT IS YOUR JOB TO PROTECT THE UNITY OF YOUR CHURCH. Unity in the church is so important that the New Testament gives more attention to it than to either heaven or hell. God deeply desires that we experience oneness and harmony with each other. Unity is the soul of fellowship. Destroy it, and you rip the heart out of Christ’s Body. It is the essence, the core, of how God intends for us to experience life together in his church. Our supreme model for unity is the Trinity. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are completely unified as one. God himself is the highest example of sacrificial love, humble other-centeredness, and perfect harmony.”
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Rick Warren
“This truth, that I have to please only God, is an important key to becoming resistant to being manipulated by disapproval from others.”
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Rick Warren
“In God’s eyes, the greatest heroes of the faith are not those who achieve prosperity, success, and power in this life, but those who treat this life as a temporary assignment and serve faithfully, expecting their promised reward in eternity.”
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Rick Warren
“A pretentious, showy life is an empty life; a plain and simple life is a full life.”
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Rick Warren
“Mucho de nuestro estrés se debe al deseo de control total. ¡La vida es una lucha, pero lo que muchas personas ignoran es que la nuestra, como la de Jacob, es en realidad una lucha con Dios! Queremos ser Dios, y de ninguna manera podremos ganar esa lucha. A.W. Tozer dijo: «Muchos aún están confusos, buscando; apenas hacen pequeños progresos porque todavía no se han rendido del todo. Todavía pretendemos dar órdenes y entrometernos en la obra de Dios en nosotros». No somos Dios, y nunca lo seremos. Somos seres humanos. Cuando pretendemos ser Dios acabamos pareciéndonos a Satanás, que pretendía eso mismo. Aceptamos nuestra humanidad con el intelecto, pero no con las emociones. Cuando nos enfrentamos a nuestras propias limitaciones, reaccionamos con irritación, enojo y resentimiento. Queremos ser más altos (o más bajos), más inteligentes, más fuertes, más talentosos, más hermosos y más ricos. Queremos tener de todo y hacer cualquier cosa, y nos disgustamos cuando eso no ocurre. Al darnos cuenta de que Dios dota a otros con las características que no tenemos, respondemos con envidia, celos y autocompasión.”
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Rick Warren