Rick Warren Quotes

Because every day of your life was written on God's calendar before you were born, everything that happens to you has spiritual significance.

Receiving, reading, researching, remembering, and reflecting on the Word of God are all useless if we fail to put what we learn into practice.

Never confuse activity with productivity.

I've always said the shoes must never tell the foot how big to be.

The number one problem in our society today is short-term thinking.

Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.

The eternal salvation of a single soul is more important than anything else you will ever achieve in life.

Limited faith, limited future. Unlimited faith, unlimited future.

In pain, I'd rather walk with Jesus with all of my questions, than walk by myself with all the answers.

I have the greater glory of God, the history is His story, that He is in charge and ultimately He knows what He's doing.

You also know you’re surrendered when you don’t react to criticism and rush to defend yourself. Surrendered hearts show up best in relationships. You don’t edge others out, you don’t demand your rights, and you aren’t self-serving when you’re surrendered.

Worry is a waste of energy. It cant change the past. It cant control the future. It only makes today miserable

Familiarity breeds complacency.

Life is not fair, but one day God's going to settle the score. He's going to right the wrongs. So, who can get better justice - you or God?

If you have ever said, "I didn't get anything out of worship today," you worshiped for the wrong reason. Worship isn't for you. It's for God.

The greatest detriment to tomorrow's success, is today's success.

If others don't use their gifts, you get cheated, and if you don;t use your gifts, they get cheated.

In 35 yrs of leading I've been afraid at every major step but I DID IT ANYWAY since I REFUSE let fear run my life.

There's a Grand Designer behind everything. Your life is not a result of random chance, fate, or luck. There is a master plan. History is His story. God is pulling the strings.

Jesus says in Matthew 25, no man knows the day nor the hour, neither the angles nor the son but only the Father which is in heaven. Now if Jesus didn't know when he was coming back, it's crazy for me to try to think.

First open your heart, then open your Bible.

You need to doubt your doubts & believe your beliefs.

You weren't put on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for eternity.

God sometimes removes a person from your life for your protection. Don't run after them.

God's LOVE is Like an Ocean; You can See its Beginning, but not its end.

Read the genealogy of Jesus, and you have to see how the four women in that genealogy God used their sins for His glory.

We are created for community, fashioned for fellowship, and formed for a family, and none of us can fulfill God's purposes by ourselves.

My faith, my hermeneutics does not demand that I correlate every verse. In other words, there are often verses that appear, I'm a John 3:16 Christian, I believe God so loved the world, I do believe that, and I believe that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish. But I also believe, you know, predestination from the foundation of the Earth. So to me, I'm able to hold tensions in my mind rather than having to explain them. To me, I don't fit in a real good box and I believe them both.

Love pays attention. Love listens to the fears and the doubts of others and treats them with respect. Love accepts others the way Jesus accepts you.

Your spiritual family is even more important than our physical family because it will last forever.

Passion drives perfection.

Worry is really just a form of atheism. Every time you worry, you're acting like an atheist. You're saying, "It all depends on me." That's just not in the Bible.

Leadership is learned, earned, and discerned. You develop it. It's based on trust and credibility. Others see it in you. You can't demand it.

God's purpose is greater than our problems, our pain and even our sin.

Life is a gift... Life is a test... Life is temporary assignment.

People need fewer 'ought-to' sermons, and more 'how-to' sermons. The deepest kind of teaching is that which makes a difference in people's day-to-day lives. Jesus spoke to the crowd with an interesting style. When God's Word is taught in an uninteresting way, people don't just think the pastor is boring, they think God is boring!

Because God is love, the most important lesson he wants you to learn on earth is how to love.

Faithful servants never retire. You can retire from your career, but you will never retire from serving God.

When I am playing with my grandchildren, that brings glory to God. So I don't think glory to God is simply serious. I do think that there is glory of God in laughter.

The most desired gift of love is not diamonds or roses or chocolate. It's focused attention.

Forgiveness must be immediate, whether or not a person asks for it. Trust must be rebuilt over time. Trust requires a track record. If someone hurts you repeatedly, you are commanded by God to forgive them instantly, but you are not expected to trust them immediately, and you are not expected to continue allowing them to hurt you.

Small churches become more effective when they specialize in what they do best.

Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God.

Possessions only provide temporary happiness.

I love the verse in Job, where it says a man deserves the devotion of his friends even when he forsakes the Almighty. Now what that verse means to me is, even if I were to say, right now I don't believe in God. I still need you to be my friend, and say, I can believe God for you right now. I'm going to hold you up while you are ranting and railing, and God can handle my ranting and railing because He certainly handled David's and Job's and so many others.

The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That’s because we typically begin at the wrong starting point—ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose.

Your abilities are the map to God's will for your life. It points the direction. When you know what you're good at, then you can know what God wants you to do with your life.

Resentment always hurts you more than the person you resent.