Quotes About Faith

We say that religion is a matter of mood: we must wait until the mood strikes us. And then we often wait for years —perhaps until the end of our life—until we are once again in the mood to be religious. This idea is based on a great illusion. It is alll well and good to let religion be a matter of mood, but God is not a matter of mood. He is still present even when we are not in the mood to meet with him.

Aus einem Brief an die Finkenwalder Brüder Groß-Schlönwitz, 20. Dezember 1937 Gott will nicht tote Christen, sondern Christen, die ihrem Herrn leben. Hören wir dieses Wort nicht, so ist Weihnachten an uns vorübergegangen.

Wir gehören einander allein durch und in Jesus Christus. Was heißt das? Es heißt erstens, dass ein Christ den andern braucht um Jesu Christi willen. Es heißt zweitens, dass ein Christ zum andern nur durch Jesus Christus kommt. Es heißt drittens, dass wir in Jesus Christus von Ewigkeit her erwählt, in der Zeit angenommen und für die Ewigkeit vereinigt sind.

The only way is by mortifying our own wills which are always obtruding themselves. And the only way to do this is by letting Christ alone reign in our hearts, by surrendering our wills completely to him, by living in fellowship with Jesus and by following him. Then we can pray that his will may be done

Jesus does not tell us what we ought to do but cannot; he tells us what God has given us and promises still to give.

The fact that he was ashamed when he was discovered praying was for Kant an argument against prayer. He failed to see that prayer by its very nature is a matter for the strictest privacy, and he failed to perceive the fundamental significance of shame for human existence.

Spiritual love will speak to Christ about a brother more than to a brother about Christ.

Spiritual love will speak to Christ about a brother more than to a brother about Christ. It knows that the most direct way to others is always through prayer to Christ and that love of others is wholly dependent upon the truth in Christ.

Herr, was dieser Tag auch bringt – dein Name sei gelobt.

I believe that God will give us all the strength we need to help us to resist in all times of distress. But He never gives it in advance, lest we should rely on ourselves and not on Him alone.

Die Kraft des Menschen ist das Gebet. Beten ist Atem holen aus Gott. Beten heißt sich Gott anvertrauen. Das Gebet ist das Herz christlichen Lebens.

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.

Assim como Cristo manteve a comunhão com o Pai ao levar fardos, o discípulo, ao levar fardos, mantém a comunhão com Cristo.

They are to go forth in the battle-dress of poverty, taking as little with them as a traveler who knows he will get board and lodging with friends at the end of the day. This shall be an expression of their faith, not in men, but in their heavenly father who sent them and will care for them. It is this that will make their gospel credible, for they proclaim the coming Kingdom of God.

How shall we ever help a Christian brother and set him straight in his difficulty and doubt, if not with God's own Word? All our own words quickly fail.

Es ist nichts Selbstverständliches für den Christen, dass er unter Christen leben darf. Jesus Christus lebte mitten unter seinen Feinden. Zuletzt verließen ihn alle Jünger. Am Kreuz war er ganz allein, umgeben von Übeltätern und Spöttern.

Beten heißt ja nicht einfach das Herz ausschütten, sondern es heißt, mit seinem erfüllten oder auch leeren Herzen den Weg zu Gott finden und mit ihm zu reden. Das kann kein Mensch von sich aus, dazu braucht er Jesus Christus.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

Just as Christ maintained his communion with the Father by his endurance, so his followers are to maintain their communion with Christ by their endurance.

Who is this Judas? Who is the betrayer? Faced with this question, are we capable of more than asking with the disciples: "Surely not I, Lord?"8 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, sermon in Finkenwalde, 14 March 1937

There is the question of resistance and of submission in the right place; that is, resistance to the devil is only possible in the fullest submission to the hand of God.

There is no resistance to Satan other than flight. Every struggle against lust in one's own strength is doomed to failure. Flee—that can indeed only mean, Flee to that place where you find protection and help flee to the Crucified.

Decisions, demanded by work, become easier and simpler where they are made not in the fear of men but only in the sight of God.

Beten heißt Gott nahekommen und nahe bleiben wollen, weil er uns nahegekommen ist. Beten können wir nur, weil Christus da ist, in ihm hat unser Gebet seinen Grund, denn durch ihn haben wir Gott zum Vater.