Quotes from Lysa TerKeurst

We won't develop new responses until we develop new thoughts. That's why renewing our minds with new thoughts is crucial.

Too many people think that finding the reason God placed us here on earth will come in one assignment with a big title and complete job description. I believe that discovering our purpose will unfold slowly, like a seed planted deep in the ground.

there are natural consequences for not taking care of our bodies.

I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places … In the most unlikely places I will bless your efforts and reward your perseverance with small indications of your victory.

We must respect ourselves enough to break the pattern of placing unrealistic expectations on others.

Hoping doesn't mean I put myself in harm's way. It doesn't mean I ignore reality. No, hoping means I acknowledge reality in the very same breath that I acknowledge God's sovereignty.

Jesus knew what being rejected felt like. Jesus knew. He knew the feelings. He knew the struggles. And in an earth-shattering moment, Jesus exposed the way of escape for us. He matched every feeling—the emptiness, the deprivation, and the rejection—with truths straight from God's Word. Lies flee in the presence of truth.

If we live rooted and established in His love, we don't just have knowledge of His love in our minds, but it becomes a reality that anchors us.

In the meantime, we must hold fast to the truth of who God is and His unchanging nature: God is good. His plans are good. His requirements are good. His salvation is good. His grace is good. His forgiveness is good. His restoration is good.

Some moms are equipped by the hand of God to be "that mom." They have been formed with the three-C gene — Cooking, Crafting, and Cleaning come easily and naturally to them. Others of us have been delightfully chosen to provide the comic relief necessary to keep this world entertained. And to keep future therapists in business.

In the quiet, unexpressed, unwrestled-through disappointments, Satan is handcrafting his most damning weapons against us and those we love. It's his subtle seduction to get us alone with our thoughts so he can slip in whispers that will develop our disappointments into destructive choices.

When the world beats you down, open up your Bible.

Rejection isn't just an emotion we feel. It's a message that's sent to the core of who we are, causing us to believe lies about ourselves, others, and God. We connect an event from today to something harsh someone once said. That person's line becomes a label. The label becomes a lie. And the lie becomes a liability in how we think about ourselves and interact in every future relationship.

Today's choices become tomorrow's circumstances.

Forgiveness is the weapon. Our choices moving forward are the battlefield. Moving on is the journey.

Imagine this opportunity as an amazingly attractive but fast-moving river. There is so much that looks extremely appealing about this river, you're going to be tempted to jump right in. But once you are in the river, you have diminished your ability to make decisions. That river is moving so fast that it will take you where it is going. And if you haven't carefully traced out in advance whether you want to go through and to the places that river flows, you'll be in trouble.

Getting healthy isn't just about losing weight. It's not limited to adjusting our diet and hoping for good physical results. It's about recalibrating our souls so that we want to change — spiritually, physically, and mentally. And the battle really is in all three areas.

The tweaking of us by God in the quiet is the saving of us in public.

When a man is physically present but emotionally absent, a girl's heart can feel quite hollow and helpless. This is true whether that man is her father, her husband, or even a man whom she deeply respects.

Now I'm not saying the act of going to church fixes everything. Just as simply looking at a restaurant menu won't give you nourishment. We've got to engage with what's offered if it's going to do us any good. But putting my heart in a place to receive truth certainly got me going in a different direction.

If we let it, unglued will allow us to become humbly and beautifully broken before Him.

My imperfections will never override God's promises.

When my happy gets bumped, what's really going on in my heart is on display. In those times I will either add to the authenticity of my love for Jesus or, sadly, negate it.

Bitterness isn't usually found most deeply in those whose hearts are hard but rather in those who are most tender. It's not that they are cold; it's that they've been made to feel unsafe.