“Henri Nouwen said, “In order to be of service to others we have to die to them; that is, we have to give up measuring our meaning and value with the yardstick of others…. thus we become free to be compassionate.” When you base your worth and identity on your relationship to Christ, you are freed from the expectations of others, and that allows you to really serve them best.”
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Rick Warren
“El porqué de todo Porque de Él, por Él y para Él son todas las cosas. A Él sea la gloria para siempre. ROMANOS 11:36 (LBLA) Toda obra del SEñOR tiene un propósito. PROVERBIOS 16:4 (NVI) TODO ES PARA él. El objetivo final del universo es mostrar la gloria de Dios. La gloria de Dios es el porqué de la existencia de todo, incluida tu persona. Dios hizo todo para su gloria. Sin la gloria de Dios, no habría nada.”
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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
“One day God will review your answers to these life questions. Did you put Jesus at the center of your life? Did you develop his character? Did you devote your life to serving others? Did you communicate his message and fulfill his mission? Did you love and participate in his family? These are the only issues that will count. As Paul said, “Our goal is to measure up to God’s plan for us.”
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Rick Warren
“Dwight L. Moody, a great evangelist and Christian educator of the late nineteenth century, used to say, “The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives.” It was given to change our character and bring it more into conformity with Jesus Christ. All of our efforts in Bible study are valueless if in the final analysis we do not change and become more like Jesus. We must “not merely listen to the word,” but we are to “do what it says” (James 1:22).”
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Rick Warren
“Without a clear purpose, you will keep changing directions, jobs, relationships, churches, or other externals — hoping each change will settle the confusion or fill the emptiness in your heart.”
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Rick Warren
“Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul.”
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Rick Warren
“Las circunstancias cambian; las personas se mueren; los hijos crecen; no hay garantías para el mañana. Si quieres expresar tu amor, más vale que lo hagas ahora mismo.”
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Rick Warren
“Emphasize reconciliation, not resolution.”
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Rick Warren
“Often we try to offer God partial obedience. We want to pick and choose the commands we obey. We make a list of the commands we like and obey those while ignoring the ones we think are unreasonable, difficult, expensive, or unpopular. I’ll attend church but I won’t tithe. I’ll read my Bible but won’t forgive the person who hurt me. Yet partial obedience is disobedience.”
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Rick Warren
“Bringing enjoyment to God, living for his pleasure, is the first purpose of your life. When you fully understand this truth, you will never again have a problem with feeling insignificant. It proves your worth. If you are that important to God, and he considers you valuable enough to keep with him for eternity, what greater significance could you have?”
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Rick Warren
“While we worry about how fast we grow, God is concerned about how strong we grow. God views our lives from and for eternity, so he is never in a hurry.”
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Rick Warren
“Surrendering is not repressing your personality. God wants to use your unique personality. Rather than its being diminished, surrendering enhances it. C. S. Lewis observed, “The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become — because he made us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be…. It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own.”
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Rick Warren
“You didn't create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for.”
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Rick Warren
“Love others as you love yourself.’”1 Learning to love unselfishly is not an easy task. It runs counter to our self-centered nature. That’s why we’re given a lifetime to learn it. Of course, God wants us to love everyone, but he is particularly concerned that we learn to love others in his family. As we have already seen, this is the second purpose for your life. Peter tells us, “Show special love for God’s people.”2 Paul echoes this sentiment: “When we have the opportunity to help anyone, we should do it. But we should give special attention to those who are in the family of believers.”
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Rick Warren