Ideas

Our Life with God

Quotations to stir heart and mind.

FOR THE GLORY of God is the human person fully alive, and life consists in beholding God. For if the vision of God which is made by means of the creation, gives life to all living in the earth, much more does that revelation of the Father which comes through the Word, give life to those who see God.Irenaeus, Against Heresies

MAY I KNOW me! May I know thee!Augustine, Soliloquies

ABIDE IN THE VINE. Let the life from him flow through all your spiritual veins.Hannah Whitall Smith, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life

GOD CANNOT be understood by logical reasoning but only by submission.Leo Tolstoy, Wise Thoughts for Every Day

AS WE UNITE with God, we are invited into bonding rather than bondage.Flora Slosson Wuellner, in Weavings

I BRING my void here for filling;it is my poverty God needs. With my want the Lord builds palaces.Kilian McDonnell, from “A Place to Hide: Light On,” in Weavings

GOD CAN’T CLEAN the house of you when you’re still in it.Anne Lamott, Grace (Eventually)

RECEIVING FORGIVENESS requires a total willingness to let God be God and do all the healing, restoring, and renewing.Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son

IF A MAN HUMBLES himself, God cannot withhold his own goodness but must come down and flow into the humble man, and to him who is least of all he gives himself the most of all, and he gives himself to him completely. What God gives is his being, and his being is his goodness, and his goodness is his love.Meister Eckhart, Sermon 22

I ON YOUR PATH, O God You, O God, on my way.Celtic walking prayer

IT IS NOT ONLY PRAYER that gives God glory but work. Smiting on an anvil, sawing a beam, whitewashing a wall, driving horses, sweeping, scouring, everything gives God glory if being in his grace you do it as your duty.Gerard Manley Hopkins, The Principle or Foundation

MOST OF OUR CONFLICTS and difficulties come from trying to deal with the spiritual and practical aspects of our life separately instead of realizing them as parts of one whole.Evelyn Underhill, The Spiritual Life

LORD, LET ME KNOW clearly the work which you are calling me to do in life. And grant me every graceI need to answer your call with courage and love and lasting dedication to your will.Saint Meinrad Prayer Book, “Vocation Prayer”

Copyright © 2009 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

Previous Reflections columns are available on our site.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

The Case for Early Marriage

Mark Regnerus

Cover Story

With Parents' Help

David Gushee

Cover Story

The Waiting Game

Christine A. Colón

Cover Story

An Ocean of Sorrow

Read Mercer Schuchardt

The Purpose-Driven Job Hunter

Interview by John R. Throop

News

Career Counseling in Church

Michael W. Michelsen Jr.

Review

CDs on The List

Why Churchless Christianity Doesn't Work

Interview by Katie Galli

Three Gifts for Hard Times

William J. Stuntz

Readers Write

Books Uncommon and Offbeat

John Wilson, editor of 'Books & Culture'

Here We Are to Worship

Brad Harper and Paul Louis Metzger

Review

New Music: Two for the Soul

Mark Moring

Review

Putting Worldview in Its Place

Eric Miller

Feeding Hope Under a Rogue Regime

Tim Stafford in Pyongyang

The Only 'Christian Nation'

John Calvin with Knox Bucer-Beza

Editorial

Mega-mirror

A Christianity Today Editorial

My Top 5 Books on Loss

Nancy Guthrie

Review

Is Self-Deception Always Bad?

Michael McGowan

Reasoning Together

Restless, Reformed, and Single

Sarah Pulliam

News

Q & A: Robert Duncan

George Conger

Power Pentecostalisms

Milton Acosta

News

What's in a Name?

Susan Wunderink

Matter Matters

News

Friend or Foe?

Sarah Pulliam

News

Go Figure

We Need Health-Care Reform

News

School's Out Forever

C. L. Lopez

News

Quotation Marks

News

One in the Spirit

Alicia Cohn

News

News Briefs: August 01, 2009

News

Let It Snow

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra

News

Passages

News

The Workers Are Few

Bobby Ross Jr.

News

Desert Deaths

View issue

Our Latest

Public Theology Project

Trump’s AI Jesus Might Be the Messiah We’ve Been Looking For

Perhaps this blasphemous image can expose what we’ve become—and, ironically, lead the way back to what’s real.

Changing Times and Technology

In 1981, CT helped evangelicals navigate debates over Ronald Reagan, genetic engineering, television, and male headship.

My Family Resisted Iran’s Regime. My Hope Is Not in Foreign Intervention.

Sara Afshari

Jesus spoke peace to his disciples as they hid. Iranian Christians modeled for me that same resistance with grace.

News

A New Approach to Native Missions Starts with the Past

Janel Breitenstein

A painful history with church-run schools has many Indigenous people wary of Christianity. Native ministries are working to share the real Jesus.

Partying in Joy and Sorrow

Christ has freed us to be a party people, even in grief and pain.

The Russell Moore Show

Malcolm Guite on Re-Enchanting a Disenchanted World

Why do ancient stories refuse to die, and what can we learn from them?

Wire Story

Beth Moore Is Leaving Her Ego Behind

Bob Smietana - Religion News Service

Eyeing retirement, the prolific Bible teacher still longs for discipleship in a fractured church.

News

UK Immigration Plans Unsettle Hong Kongers Who Fled China

Joyce Wu

Christians continue to cling to the fact that “the Lord has not abandoned us.”

addApple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseellipseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squarefolderGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastprintremoveRSSRSSSaveSavesaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube