Jim Elliot Quotes

The shiny paint laid on by curiosity's hand has worn off. What thing better can a man know than the love of Christ, which passes knowledge?

We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with.... Oh that God would make us dangerous!

Grieve not, then, if your sons seem to desert you, but rejoice, rather, seeing the will of God done gladly.

God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus.

None of it gets to be 'old stuff', for it is Christ in print, the Living Word. We wouldn't think of rising in the morning without a facewash, but we often neglect that purgative cleansing of the Word of the Lord. It wakes us up to our responsibility

Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living.

Live every day as if the Son of Man were at the door, and gear your thinking to the fleeting moment. Just how can it be redeemed? Walk as if the next step would carry you across the threshold of Heaven. Pray. That saint who advances on his knees never retreats.

I many no longer depend on pleasant impulses to bring me before the Lord. I must rather response to principles I know to be right, whether I feel them to be enjoyable or not.

Rest in this-it is His business to lead, command, impel, send, call, or whatever you want to call it. It is your business to obey, follow, move, respond, or what have you... The sound of 'gentle stillness' after all the thunder and wind have passed will be the ultimate Word from God.

That saint who advances on his knees never retreats.

In my own experience I have found that the most extravagant dreams of boyhood have not surpassed the great experience of being in the Will of God, and I believe that nothing could be better. That is not to say that I do not want other things, and other ways of living, and other places to see, but in my right mind I know that my hopes and plans for myself could not be any better than He has arranged and fulfilled them. Thus may we all find it, and know the truth of the Word which says, He will be our guide even until death.

No one warns young people to follow Adam's example. He waited till God saw his need. Then God made Adam sleep, prepared for his mate, and brought her to him.

As your life is in His hands, so are the days of your life. But don’t let the sands of time get into the eye of your vision to reach those who sit in darkness. They simply must hear.

I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you Lord Jesus.

Our young men are going into the professional fields because they don't 'feel called' to the mission field. We don't need a call; we need a kick in the pants. We must begin thinking in terms of 'going out,' and stop our weeping because 'they won't come in.' Who wants to step into an igloo? The tombs themselves are not colder than the churches. May God send us forth.

What good are Greek, commentaries, insight, gift, and all the rest, if there is no heart for Christ?

Father, take my life, yea, my blood if Thou wilt, and consume it with Thine enveloping fire. I would not save it, for it is not mine to save. Have it Lord, have it all. Pour out my life as an oblation for the world. Blood is only of value as it flows before Thine altar

Those whimpering Stateside young people will wake up on the Day of Judgment condemned to worse fates than these demon-fearing Indians, because, having a Bible, they were bored with it - while these never heard of such a thing as writing.

God deliver me from the dread asbestos of “other things.” Saturate me with the oil of the Spirit that I may be aflame.

Lord, make my way prosperous not that I achieve high station, but that my life be an exhibit to the value of knowing God.

Children are arrows in a quiver, and they are to be trained as missionaries and shot at the Devil.

Be on guard, my soul, of complicating your environment so that you have neither time nor room for growth!

God, I pray light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn up for thee.

Oh, the fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement of knowing God on earth!

I couldn’t have asked for more than God in deliberate grace has surprised me with!

It is true that a fellow cannot ignore women - but he can think of them as he ought - as sisters, not as sparring partners.

God is still on His throne, we're still on His 'footstool,' and there's only a knee's distance between!

I have had to make a cross of two logs, and lie down on it, to show the Indians what it means to crucify a man.

Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.

I do not know how to make a man think seriously about sin and judgment, and must look to the work of the Holy Spirit for any hint of such a working.

If we are the sheep of His pasture, remember that sheep are headed for the altar.

Why do you need a voice when you have a verse?

Ninety-five percent of our wool is going to China.

Rest in this - it is His business to lead, command, impel, send, call... It is your business to obey, follow, move, respond.

Father, let me be weak that I might loose my clutch on everything temporal. My life, my reputation, my possessions, Lord, let me loose the tension of the grasping hand. Even, Father, would I lose the love of fondling. How often I have released a grasp only to retain what I prized by 'harmless' longing, the fondling touch. Rather, open my hand to received the nail of Calvary, as Christ's was opened- that I, releasing all, might be released, unleashed from all that binds me now. He thought Heaven, yea, equality with God, not a thing to be clutched at. So let me release my grasp.

The will of God is always a bigger thing than we bargain for.

God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with him.

Wherever you are - be all there.

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

I have prayed for new men, fiery, reckless men, possessed of uncontrollably youthful passion-these lit by the Spirit of God. I have prayed for new words, explosive, direct, simple words. I have prayed for new miracles. Explaining old miracles will not do. If God is to be known as the God who does wonders in heaven and earth, then God must produce for this generation. Lord, fill preachers and preaching with Thy power. How long dare we go on without tears, without moral passions, hatred and love? Not long, I pray, Lord Jesus, not long.

Lord, give me firmness without hardness, steadfastness without dogmatism, love without weakness.

Desire is the putting of my will into God’s concern. It’s not a passive, sitting back in your easy chair, folding your arms sort of thing, which says, 'Well, I’m willing, if God would only give me a good swift kick and send me.' That’s willingness all right. But God doesn’t want willingness, He wants will! He wants your will put behind those desires.

Wherever you are, be all there! Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.

Eternity shall be at once a great eye-opener and a great mouth-shutter.

Singleness, simplicity, is required of me. One treasure, a single eye, and a sole Master!

The sound of 'gentle stillness' after all the thunder and wind have passed will the ultimate Word from God.

It makes me boil when I think of the power we profess and the utter impotency of our action. Believers who know one-tenth as much as we do are doing one-hundred times more for God, with His blessing and our criticism. Oh if I could write it, preach it, say it, paint it, anything at all, if only God's power would become known among us.

Unwillingness to accept God's 'way of escape' from temptation frightens me - what a rebel yet resides within.