Quotes from John Eldredge

what you must cling to is that you have died with Christ in the cross; sin no longer has to rule over you. You have a choice!

The father is to speak into his son's heart deep affirmation. Yes, you do. You have what it takes. He needs a hundred experiences that will help him get there, and he is wounded and emasculated when he is kept from those experiences, or left on his own to interpret them, or when no one is there to help him in his journey toward initiation.

The enemy's whole plan is based on agreements. When we agree with the demonic forces suggesting things to us, we come under their influence.

They fear exposure, fear being seen as weak. That's why other men would rather work late than come home and talk to their wives or their children. They know what to do at work; they don't know what to do in their most important relationships.

Be men of courage; be strong. —1 CORINTHIANS 16:13 NIV

Do not diminish the wounds you have received because you have heard far worse stories than yours; minimizing the impact of a wound never heals it. Jesus cares about it all.

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Gal. 6: 14).

The greatest enemy of true faith has always been religion (notice who Jesus reserves his harshest words for), and a religious attitude is not what we are after.

set your phone alarm so that three times a day you stop, love God, and give him your allegiance. I love you, God. I love you, God. I love you. I give you my allegiance. I choose you over all things. Give me the strength that prevails.

F]orgiveness is not saying it didn't matter; it is not saying we simply choose to overlook the offense. Forgiveness is saying the cross is enough—we require no further payment than Jesus paid. Forgiveness is releasing the person to God for him to deal with.

This is every man's deepest fear: to be exposed, to be found out, to be discovered as an impostor, and not really a man.

We forgive those who harmed us. And then, with an open heart, we simply as Jesus to heal us.

The mind is a faculty, and a magnificent one at that. But the heart is the dwelling place of our true beliefs.

What if those deep desires in our hearts are telling us the truth, revealing to us the life we were meant to live? God gave us eyes so that we might see; he gave us ears that we might hear; he gave us will that we might choose, and he gave us hearts that we might live. The way we handle the heart is everything.

The adventures and work that we choose must fit the soul of the boy. One young man's adventure would be terrifying to another. Now

The secret of Christianity is something else altogether—the life of Christ in you. Allowing his life to become your life. His revolution is not self-transformation, but his transformation of you, from the inside out, as you receive his life and allow him to live through you. Vine, branch. Anything else is madness.

The problem of self-identity is not just a problem for the young. It is a problem all the time. Perhaps the problem. It should haunt old age, and when it no longer does it should tell you that you are dead.

Receive it for the gift it is! Pause, and let the beauty minister to you. I receive this into my soul. Too often we just notice and go on, like a pedestrian who steps over a hundred-dollar bill lying on the sidewalk. Stop and pick it up! In these moments you open yourself and receive the beauty, the gift, the grace—receive it into your being. Let it bring to you God's love, his tenderness, his rich goodness.

your heart is made for the kingdom of God. This might be the most important thing anyone will ever tell you about yourself: your heart only thrives in one habitat, and that safe place is called the kingdom of God.

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." (Rom. 8:15)

That glory was shared with us; we became, in G. K. Chesterton's words, "a statue of God walking about the garden," endowed with a strength and beauty all our own. All that we ever wished we could be, we were—and more. We were fully alive.

Beautiful things, as Matisse shows, always carry greetings from other worlds within them.

the outer life we live from ought (I ought to do this) rather than from desire (I want to do this) and management substitutes for mystery.

Intimacy with God is the purpose of our lives. It's why God created us.