Charles R. Swindoll Quotes

Confidence brings joy when we let God be God.

Worry is a complete waste of energy. It solves nothing.

Strength comes from choosing to fully trust, pray, and praise. Our circumstances may not change, but in the process we change.

You and I are, by birth, by nature, and by choice, inwardly depraved, which is to say that we are entirely corrupt. That's not to say that we have no good in us; we do. However, anything good in us has been tainted with evil. It touches everything. Without the redeeming power of Christ we cannot halt our own moral slide.

The stronger the winds, the deeper the roots, and the longer the winds, the more beautiful the tree.

To be used of God. Is there anything more encouraging, more fulfilling? Perhaps not, but there is something more basic: to meet with God.

God seems to reward us with good, delightful experiences when we move with joy through the less-than-delightful times.

Focusing intently on Christ naturally results in a lifestyle of increasingly greater selflessness. And it has another benefit. Gazing on Christ gives us greater ability to look past life's trials and remain calm in the midst of what others would call chaos.

The best tests of my Christian growth occur in the mainstream of life, not in the quietness of my study

Allowing anger to seethe on the back burner will lead to a very large lid blowing off a very hot pot.

At least one indication of unbelief is the tendency to measure life's challenges against our own adequacy instead of God's promises. To enter our Sabbath rest, we must put an end to self-reliance - trusting in our own abilities to overcome difficulties, rise above challenges, escape tragedies, or achieve personal greatness.

It helps me if I remember that God is in charge of my day - not I.

Without a quest, life is quickly reduced to bleak black and wimpy white, a diet too bland to get anybody out of bed in the morning. A quest fuels our fire. It refuses to let us drift downstream gathering debris.

You and I can become so dedicated to the will of God, we can be so driven by a false sense of purpose, that we might inadvertently take matters into our own hands and leave God completely out of the loop.

You won't find God at the Seminary and you won't find wisdom in the halls of intellectualism.

Those who feed on rumors are small, suspicious souls.

We can't solve modern problems by going back in time. Retreating to the safety of the familiar is an understandable response, but God has called us to a life of faith. And faith requires us to face the unknown while trusting Him completely.

God has somehow placed into Christian's insides a special something, that extra inner reservoir of power that is more than a match for the stuff life throws at us.

That's what this thing called Christian life is all about, isn't it. Going . . . yet not knowing. As followers of our Lord we believe He leads us in a certain direction . . . or in pursuit of a precise goal.

First impressions never have a second chance.

Friends make life a lot more fun.

When you have vision it affects your attitude. Your attitude is optimistic rather than pessimistic.

Rejoicing is clearly a spiritual command. To ignore it, I need to remind you, is disobedience.

How important is the heart! It is there that character is formed. It alone holds the secrets of true success. It's treasures are priceless - but they can be stolen.

I am often the brunt of my own humor.

I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position.

[God] is able to take your life, with all of the heartache, all of the pain, all of the regret, all of the missed opportunities, and use you for His glory.

The decision to give ourselves to others is a daily taking up of the cross.

Choose to view life through God's eyes. This will not be easy because it doesn't come naturally to us. We cannot do this on our own. We have to allow God to elevate our vantage point. Start by reading His Word, the Bible...Pray and ask God to transform your thinking. Let Him do what you cannot. Ask Him to give you an eternal, divine perspective.

...the single most important issue in all of life (is) your relationship with the living God... how you can know Him in a personal and meaningful way.

Who can ever measure the benefit of a mother's inspiration?

Faith does not change my circumstances; faith changes me. Faith may not bring in the tuition check when I need it, but faith will give me what it takes to hang on.

It is easy for Christians to have the false impression that once we have established a relationship with Christ, which we believe sets us right with God, the problems of life will somehow scoot away or they will slowly be removed from our lives.

I'm here today to warn you: I want you to watch out for the adversary. Guard yourself from any spirit of entitlement. Restrain any and all subtle temptation to gain attention or to find ways to promote yourself.

God presents the Sabbath rest as a shelter we can enter. (Hebrews 4:1-11)

I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun.

Grace is ours. Let's live it! Deny it or debate it and we kill it.

All he asks is that we trust Him, that we stand before Him in integrity and faith. God is just waiting for us to trust Him.

I don't have to explain or defend the will of God. My job is simply to obey it.

It's the nature of the beast within us to keep going back to the familiar rather than to strap on faith and face the future.

We are in charge of our attitudes.

God's forgiveness extends to the worst offenders and to anyone who wishes to receive it-not because of who we are, but because of who He is.

Good listeners believe they can learn something from everyone.

Because God gave you your makeup and superintended every moment of your past, including all the hardship, pain, and struggles, He wants to use your words in a unique manner. No one else can speak through your vocal cords, and, equally important, no one else has your story.

Faith is like lighting the torch that passes from one person to the next. You can't light the torch of another if yours isn't burning.

Discipline is training that corrects and perfects our mental faculties or molds our moral character. Discipline is control gained by enforced obedience. It is the deliberate cultivation of inner order.

The crisis of physical hunger is essentially a crisis of faith. What or whom will you trust to meet your most basic needs? Will you trust the God who made human bodies, or will you seek your own way? (Deuteronomy 8:1-3)

Refuse to let your situation determine your attitude.