Discipleship never consists in this or that specific action: it is always a decision, either for or against Jesus Christ.

Absolute seriousness is never without a dash of humor.

The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.

The richness of God’s Word ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart.

Where is love more glorified than where she dwells in the midst of her enemies?

Pain is a holy angel who shows us treasures that would otherwise remain forever hidden; through him men and women have become greater than through all the joys of the world. It must be so and I tell myself this in my present situation over and over again. The pain of suffering and of longing, which can often be felt even physically, must be there, and we cannot and need not talk it away. But it needs to be overcome every time, and thus there is an even holier angel than the one of pain; that is, the one of joy in God.

Fruit is always the miraculous, the created; it is never the result of willing, but always a growth. The fruit of the Spirit is a gift of God, and only He can produce it. They who bear it know as little about it as the tree knows of its fruit. They know only the power of Him on whom their life depends