John Ortberg Quotes

We are too often double espresso followers of a decaf Sovereign.

The good news as Jesus preached it is not just about the minimal entrance requirements for getting into heaven when you die. It is about the glorious redemption of human life-your life.

We must assess our thoughts and beliefs and reckon whether they are moving us closer to conformity to Christ or farther away from it.

Sloth is the failure to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done - like the kamikaze pilot who flew seventeen missions.

What matters is not the accomplishments you achieve; what matters is the person you become.

Disciplined people can do the right thing at the right time in the right way for the right reason.

The goal is not for us to get through the Scriptures. The goal is to get the Scriptures through us.

The Bible does not say you are God’s appliance; it says you are his masterpiece. Appliances get mass-produced.

Willpower is trying very hard not to do something you want to do very much.

God is not interested in our spiritual life. He's interested in our life.

Joylessness may be the sin most readily tolerated by the church.

Solitude is the one place where we can gain freedom from the forces of society that will otherwise relentlessly mold us. Solitude requires relentless perseverance.

Over time, grit is what separates fruitful lives from aimlessness.

The possibility of transformation is the essence of hope.

You must arrange your days so that you are experiencing deep contentment, joy and confidence in your everyday life with God.

Self-improveme nt is no more God's plan than self-salvation.

Hurry is not just a disordered schedule. Hurry is a disordered heart.

Going in faith does not necessarily mean going with serenity or without doubts. Faith can be difficult.

Skepticism can keep us from blessing, can keep us trapped in two minds.

When preaching is done right, it can change lives. When it's done badly, my failure goes beyond the merely human.

To become truly free, you must surrender.

It may be a very bad thing that I needed God to die for me, but it is a wonderful thing that God thinks I am worth dying for.

True love is willing to warn, reprove, confront or admonish when necessary.

It only makes sense to ask God for guidance in the context of a life committed to "seeking first the kingdom."

God is a God of endless opportunities to do good; the God of the open door.

One of the great illusions of our time is that hurrying will buy us more time.

Your world could grow infinitely bigger if you were only willing to become...appropri ately small.

The church is in the hope business.

If I have the courage to acknowledge my limits and embrace them, I can experience enormous freedom. If I lack this courage, I will be imprisoned by them.

God is so immense that if he were 'too visible,' people would give forced compliance without expressing their heart. So God made it possible, in enormous love, for us to live as if he were not there.

If we are serious about loving God, we must begin with people, all people. And especially we must learn to love those that the world generally discards.

The greatest bloodbaths in the history of the human race were recorded in the twentieth century in countries that sought to eliminate God, worship, and faith.

Over and over in the Bible, it is fear that threatens to keep people from trusting and obeying God.

At the heart of Christian faith is the story of Jesus death and resurrection.

Both hope and pessimism are deeply contagious. And no one is more infectious than a leader.

The primary goal of spiritual life is human transformation.

One of the most painful aspects of suffering is the loneliness of it. Others may offer support or empathy, but no one can walk the road to Moriah in our place.

Ever console or scold people hurt in human relationships that satisfaction comes from God alone? Stop. Adam's fellowship with God was perfect, and God Himself declared Adam needed other humans.

There is a world of difference between being friendly to someone because they're useful to you and being someone's friend.

Waiting on the Lord is a confident, disciplined, expectant, active, sometimes painful clinging to God.

Greatness is never achieved through indecision.

Jesus changed how the world thinks about science, medicine, human rights, education & more.

Failure is not an event, but rather a judgment about an event. Failure is not something that happens to us or a label we attach to things. It is a way we think about outcomes.

sometimes we do not realize how much we have to be grateful for until it is threatened.

You have a "turn" every time you have an opportunity to choose. But most of us only see a tiny fraction of the choices we have.

Jesus gave the world its most influential movement.

The only cure from sin is by maintaining a vision of God.

Significance is about who we are before it is about what we do.

We may be unlovely yet we are not unloved.

Skeptics would rather, even at their own expense, appear to be right than take the risk of trusting.