Rick Warren Quotes

You can keep your own religion - Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Mormonism - you just need to add Jesus to the equation. Then you become complete. You become a Buddhist with Jesus, a Hindu with Jesus, a Muslim with Jesus and so on. You can throw out the term Christianity and still be a follower of Jesus. In fact, you can throw out the term Christian too. In some countries, you could be persecuted for calling yourself a Christian, and there is no need for that. Just ask Jesus into your heart, you don't have to identify yourself as a Christian.

I happen to agree with many of the liberal emphasis on compassion, justice and equality. I just disagree that it's the government's role to provide everything.

Never use prayer as an excuse to procrastinate doing what you already know is the right thing to do.

Patience is a form of faith. It says, "I trust God. I believe that God is bigger than this problem."

God's ultimate goal for your life on earth is not comfort, but character development. He wants you to grow up spiritually and become like Christ.

Instead of focusing on that unappeasable person, refocus on Jesus, who accepts you unconditionally.

I think one day Madonna's going to say Jesus is Lord, one day Muhammad is going to say Jesus is Lord, Hitler will say Jesus is Lord.

Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you. Don’t waste your pain; use it to help others.

Our hope is a certainty based on the truths that God is in complete control of our universe and that He loves us.

I believe what Irenaeus said - the glory of God is a human being fully alive.

AIDS is the leprosy of the 21st Century. Where did Jesus hang out? With lepers. Jesus would love on people with AIDS.

As long as you pretend to be self-sufficient, you short-circuit God's power in your life. You need to admit your inadequacy and say, "God, I can't handle this!"

To change your world, you must change your words. It's the rudder (James 3:4-5) of your life.

When you win, don't swagger. When you lose, don't sulk.

The more you pray, the less you'll panic. The more you worship, the less you worry. You'll feel more patient and less pressured.

Every human activity, except sin, can be done for God's pleasure, if you do it with an attitude of praise.

Satan doesn't mind you using your strengths, so long as you do it for personal benefits.

When the Bible speaks of God's love for us and the kind of love we are to have for him and for other people, the word is always apage, signifying a commitment to act.

If you don't know how to do it, get around someone else who does.

We may not always finish what we start but God always finishes what He starts.

Most of the time, it's your thinking, not your talent, that holds you back.

Jesus specialized in menial tasks that everyone else tried to avoid: washing feet, helping children, fixing breakfast, and serving lepers. Nothing was beneath him, because he came to serve.

Lasting love extends grace. No relationship will make it without grace. The Bible tells us that this is part of love. You're not going to have a relationship unless you have forgiveness, mercy, patience, acceptance, grace. You've got to cut people some slack.

If an organ is somehow severed from its body, it will shrivel and die. It cannot exist on its own, and neither can you. Disconnected and cut off from the lifeblood of a local body, your spiritual life will wither and eventually cease to exist.

At the end of your life on earth you will be evaluated and rewarded according to how well you handled what God entrusted to you.

The Bible teaches that we are to love people and use money, but we often get that reversed and you start loving money and using people to get more money. Money is simply a tool to be used for good.

While it is wise to learn from experience, it is wiser to learn from the experiences of others.

People aren't things to be molded; they are lives to be unfolded. And that's what true leaders do. They unfold the lives of others and help them reach their God-given potential.

The ultimate test of faith is not how loudly you praise God in happy times but how deeply you trust him in dark times.

God uses his Word, people and circumstances to mold us. All three are indispensable for character development. God's word provides the truth we need to grow, God's people provide the support we need to grow, and circumstances provide the environment we need to grow.

The Bible is clear that God considers 40 days a spiritually significant time period. Whenever God wanted to prepare someone for his purposes, he took 40 days.

It's easy to demonize from a distance.

You can only make a difference by being different.

Salvation is not a religion. It's not rules or regulations or rituals. Salvation is a relationship. That relationship doesn't begin when you get to Heaven; it begins here on Earth.

God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

The purpose of your life fits into a much larger, cosmic purpose that God has designed for eternity.

Jesus did not die on the cross just so we could live comfortable, well adjusted lives. His purpose is far deeper: He wants to make us like himself before he takes us to heaven. This is our greatest privilege, our immediate responsibility, and our ultimate destiny.

The next sentence is one of the most important spiritual truths you will ever learn: God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you're tempted to express the exact opposite quality. Character development always involves a choice, and temptation provides that opportunity.

Your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts.

Let love be your greatest aim.

Let me tell you how worthwhile you are. You are infinitely valuable to God. First, God created you. Second, Jesus died for you. Third, he puts his Spirit within you. Fourth, he wants you to be with him forever in eternity. That's how valuable you are to God. You are infinitely valuable to God.

Living in light of eternity changes your priorities.

God is looking for people to use, and if you can get usable, he will wear you out. The most dangerous prayer you can pray is this: 'Use me.'

America was built on rugged individualism, and today that has evolved into a culture of narcissism. But God didn't create you to live for you. If you want to follow Jesus, you have to put aside your selfish ambition.

I happen to know people who are followers of Christ in other religions.

If not to God, you will surrender to the opinions or expectations of others, to money, to resentment, to fear, or to your own pride, lusts, or ego. You were designed to worship God and if you fail to worship Him, you will create other things (idols) to give your life to. You are free to choose, what you surrender to but you are not free from the consequence of that choice.

There is no growth without change, no change without fear or loss and no loss without pain.

We are healed to help others. We are blessed to be a blessing. We are saved to serve, not to sit around and wait for heaven.