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”

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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

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Jay Stringer

In a world fleeing the body, Christianity teaches us how to form our desires.

Excerpt

Forgiveness Can Help Us Recover from Trauma

Amy Orr-Ewing

An excerpt from Forgiveness: Reclaiming its Power in a Culture of Fear.

The Bulletin

Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire; Trump’s Big, Beautiful Ballroom; and the Strait of Hormuz

Israel and Lebanon agree to ceasefire, court approves Trump’s $400 million ballroom, and the Strait of Hormuz affects the world.

From Our Community

‘I Want to Give Where the Voice of Truth Is Loud’

Anne Kerhoulas

Sandra Anderson trusts Christianity Today to navigate cultural challenges—and invests to ensure its voice continues.

An Arthurian Epic for the Dark Age of the Bright Screen

Haley Byrd Wilt

Galahad and the Grail “is about a light that wasn’t extinguished,” says author Malcolm Guite. “And we kind of need it again.”

Being Human

Beyond Offense: Unpacking Forgiveness, Conflict, and Identity with Yana Jenay Conner

When boundaries meet grace: balancing self-care and Jesus’ call to forgive

The 18-Hour Road Trip to Bring a Detained Refugee Home

After an ICE arrest in Minnesota, churchgoers scoured a city for their friend’s abandoned car and mobilized a mission to bring him home.

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