Quotes from Carolyn Mahaney

True beauty is to behold and reflect the beauty of God.

When we choose to obey God and give our bodies to our husbands—even if we don't feel like it—God will reward us with pleasure.

But our highest objective should be that our children would repent from their sins, put their trust in Jesus Christ, and reflect the gospel to the world around them.

Our conduct has a direct influence on how people think about the gospel. The world doesn't judge us by our theology; the world judges us by our behavior. People don't necessarily want to know what we believe about the Bible. They want to see if what we believe makes a difference in our lives. Our actions either bring glory to God or misrepresent His truth.

God created our emotions to work in harmony with our other two most fundamental faculties: our mind and our will.

Emotions are the reporters for the soul.

As Christian women, this is the attitude that should characterize our lives. We are to be women who love our homes. We are not to merely workers at home, but we are to take great pleasure in working in our homes. We are to thoroughly enjoy the sphere that God has assigned to us.

Waiting to feel before we act in obedience is a bad habit that bolsters our sinful emotions. Sinful beliefs and values only get stronger when we indulge our sinful feelings.

God has a purpose for our feelings -- the good and the bad.

Now I certainly had no intention of lying on the form, but I was trying to think of a creative way to make homemaker sound more important. Then the thought struck me: I am more concerned about the opinion of the individual who will read this questionnaire than I am about the approval of the One who has called me to be a homemaker. I had succumbed to worldly thinking rather than viewing my profession as the Bible portrays it—a high calling from God.

Stifling our emotions is like marking return to sender on God's good gift.

The myth that "emotions are bad" puts the blame in the wrong place. Emotions aren't inherently bad or unruly, but sin has devastated our emotions.

Our emotions don't necessarily tell us the facts about the situation, rather they tell us our interpretation of the facts.

If we want to get to the source of what we feel, we need to figure out what we believe and value.

Our hope is in Christ, who started this good work in the first place. He is at work, right now, creating godly emotions in our hearts, and he won't stop until our lives are bursting with beautiful, passionate, true feelings.

The woman who looks to God in the face of unkindness becomes more beautiful through suffering. Her face does not bear the lines of bitterness and a disturbed countenance. She displays a rare and remarkable beauty because she has learned to wait upon God. Her happiness is out of reach of those who have wronged her.

the wife is to exemplify the church's joyful submission to Christ by following her husband's leadership.

Submission is simply a demonstration of her confidence in the sovereign power of the Lord God.

As we meditate on the undeserved mercy of God in forgiving our sins, we will freely grant forgiveness and kindness to our husbands and children.

no situation created by our sin is so horrible that God can't redeem it for good—both for us and for our families.

Emotions aren't a hindrance to wise decision-making, but are central to the Christian life.

To do the opposite of what you feel may feel like the hardest thing to do, but it has an immediate effect.

But our highest objective should be that our children would repent from their sins, put their trust in Jesus Christ, and reflect the gospel to the world around them.