Quotes from Peter Scazzero

The vast majority of us go to our graves without knowing who we are.

Can we really love our neighbors well without loving ourselves?

Everyone who draws breath "takes the lead" many times a day. We lead with actions that range from a smile to a frown; with words that range from blessing to curse; with decisions that range from faithful to fearful….

God never loses any part of our past for his future when we surrender ourselves to him. Every mistake, sin, and detour we take in the journey of life is taken by God and becomes his gift for a future of blessing.

I have a need of such clearance as the Savior effected in the temple of Jerusalem a riddance of clutter of what is secondary that blocks the way to the all-important central emptiness which is filled with the presence of God alone. 4 —Jean Danielou

We imitate God by stopping our work and resting.

Am I growing in the freedom God gave me?

Christianity is not about our disciplined pursuit of God, but about God's relentless pursuit of us—to

When, out of fear, we avoid conflict and appease people, we are false peacemakers. For

the extent to which we love and respect ourselves is the extent to which we will be able to love and respect others.

Most leaders shipwreck or live inconsistent lives because of forces and motivations beneath the surface of their lives, which they have never even considered.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Estamos tan ciegos que, mientras el mundo nos observa y da muestras de desaprobación, no somos capaces de visualizar la gran brecha existente entre nuestras palabras y nuestro proceder en la vida cotidiana.

Ignoring our emotions is turning our back on reality; listening to our emotions ushers us into reality. And reality is where we meet God … Emotions are the language of the soul. They are the cry that gives the heart a voice … However, we often turn a deaf ear — through emotional denial, distortion, or disengagement. We strain out anything disturbing in order to gain tenuous control of our inner world. We are frightened and ashamed of what leaks into our consciousness.

The true vocation for every human being is, as Kierkegaard said, "the will to be oneself."5

Sabbath is not dependent upon our readiness to stop.

the overall health of any church or ministry depends primarily on the emotional and spiritual health of its leadership.

The gospel says you are more sinful and flawed than you ever dared believe, yet you are more accepted and loved than you ever dared hope because Jesus lived and died in your place.

Regardless of how we might feel about another human being, they are made in God's image and of infinite value and worth.

We can't change—or better said, invite God to change us—when we are unaware and do not see the truth.

the worst events of human history that we cannot understand, even hell itself, are only compost in God's wonderful eternal plan. Out of the greatest evil, the death of Jesus, came the greatest good.

But an authentic relationship with Christ also takes us into the depths — the shadows, the strongholds and the darkness deep within our own souls that must be purged. Surrendering to this inward and downward journey is difficult and painful.

What is most startling in reading a detailed explanation of what goes on beneath the surface at the age of fifteen is that the same dynamics continue into the twenties, thirties, fifties, seventies, and nineties. We remain trapped in living a pretend life out of an unhealthy concern for what other people think.

In this journey of emotionally healthy spirituality, we are talking about radical change at the core of our being. At least two critical forces hinder such a profound shift. First, the pressure of others to keep us living lives that are not our own is enormous. And second, our own stubborn self-will is much deeper and more insidious than we think. The possibility of self-deception is so great that without mature companions we can easily fall into the trap of living in illusions.