Quotes About Struggle

When the people whose claims we are considering are told to apply themselves to these tasks they become irritated and feel almost insulted. They

The truest and deepest pathos in this world is not that of suffering but that of brave struggling.

We have peace with God as soon as we believe, but not always with ourselves. The pardon may be past the prince's hand and seal, and yet not put into the prisoner's hand.

The more public thy place, Christian, and the more eminent thy service for God, the more thou must look that the devil will have some more dangerous design or other against thee; and therefore, if every private soldier needs armour against Satan's bullets of temptation, then the commanders and officers who stand in the front of battle much more.

Jehoshaphat cried when in the throng of his enemies, and the Lord helped him; much more mayest thou promise thyself his succor in thy soul combats.

In a word, Christians, God and angels are spectators, observing how you quit yourselves like children of the Most High; every exploit your faith doth against sin and Satan causeth a shout in heaven; while you valiantly prostrate this temptation, scale that difficulty, regain the other ground, you even now lost out of your enemies' hands.

Were there no devil, yet we should have our hands full, in resisting the corruptions of our own hearts; but

Few are made better by prosperity, whom afflictions make worse.

Satan, in tempting the saint to sin, labours to make a breech between God and the soul. He hates both, and therefore labours to divide these dear friends. If

Thus you find God represented to you as merciful and gracious, but not to such a great sinner as you. to have power and strength, but not able to save thee; you may say, Avaunt, Satan, thy speech betrayeth thee.

And here is all the devil gets; instead of destroying his faith which he aims at, he is the occasion of the refining of it, and thereby adding to its strength.

O how true are poor sinners to the devil's trust!

Thou art by nature a covenant-servant to sin and Satan.

And I pray, what is our life in this world but a dark night of temptation?

The Christian's life is a continual wrestling. He is, as Jeremiah said of himself, born 'a man of strife.' Or what the prophet [said] to Asa, may be said to every Christian; 'From hence thou shalt have wars:' from thy spiritual birth to thy nat ural death; from the hour when thou first didst set thy face to heaven, till thou shalt set thy foot in heaven.

Such is the weak constitution of grace, that it can neither well bear smiles or frowns from God without a snare; as one said of our English nation,[2] it cannot well bear liberty nor bondage in the height. So neither can the soul.

Fear not what you can suffer, only be careful for what you {do} suffer.

Occumenius, is as much as if the apostle had said,[45] 'We wrestle not for small and trivial things, but for heavenly,' yea, for heaven itself, and our adoption, as he goes on.

He makes the heart new, and having made it fit for heavenly motion, setting every wheel, as it were, in its right place, then he winds it up by his actuating grace, and sets it on going, the thoughts to stir, the will to move and make towards the holy object presented; yet here the chariot is set, and cannot ascend the hill of action till God puts his shoulder to the wheel: 'to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not,' Rom. 7:18.

Great and small, minister and people, all must wrestle; not one part of Christ's army in the field, and the other at ease in their quarters, where no enemy comes. Here

And so when thou art tempted to any sin, look not on it as a single sin, but as having all other sins in its belly.

Every sin thou committest is a new line that the devil draws on thy soul.

They use faith as an eye but not as a hand; they look for victory to drop from heaven upon their heads, but do not fight to obtain it.

this spiritual war of the Christian lies chiefly on the defence, and therefore requires arms most of this kind to wage it.