John Eldredge Quotes & Sayings

Fuzzy and unspecific prayers see fuzzy and unspecific results. God — John Eldredge

So you can't demand the broken to live as if they were whole. Discipline is not the issue; apply discipline and you'll make it worse. What is needed is healing. — John Eldredge

Genuine holiness restores human beings; restored human beings possess genuine holiness. — John Eldredge

Wouldn't it help you to realize that you really do live in an epic if your life had a soundtrack? — John Eldredge

We are not inviting - we are guarded. Most of our energy is spent trying to hide our true selves, and control our worlds to have some sense of security. — John Eldredge

You're going to be okay. You're going to find your way. You are not alone. — John Eldredge

Deep in his heart, every man longs for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. — John Eldredge

Listen to your own heart and the hearts of the women you know. What is it that a woman wants? What does she dream of? — John Eldredge

Desire reveals design, and design reveals destiny. — John Eldredge

God endowed you with a glory when he created you, a glory so deep and mythic that all creation pales in comparison. — John Eldredge

The word Christ uses for "life" is the word psyche - the word for our soul, our inner self, our heart. He says that the things we do to save our psyche, our self, those plans to save and protect our inner life - those are the things that will actually destroy us. — John Eldredge

You will find it hard to hear from God until you let go your rights and your agenda. — John Eldredge

Because she bears the image of God. She doesn't have to conjure it, go get it from a salon, have plastic surgery or breast implants. No, beauty is an essence that is given to every woman at her creation. — John Eldredge

You clean and organize; you demand perfection - did you ever wonder why? — John Eldredge

A man does not go to a woman to get his strength; he goes to her to offer it. — John Eldredge

That is exactly what we need. Eyes to see. Isn't that what Jesus offered us - clarity? Recovery of sight for the blind (Luke 4:18)? We need clarity and we need it badly. A simple prayer rises from my heart: Jesus, take away the fog and the clouds and the veil, and help me to see ... give me eyes to really see. — John Eldredge

As D. H. Lawrence said, I am not a mechanism. — John Eldredge

The real you is on the side of God against the false self — John Eldredge

In the middle of the road of my life, I awoke in a dark wood, where the true way was wholly lost. — John Eldredge

It takes great courage to be vulnerable. It takes enormous strength to be a real woman. — John Eldredge

It is not love to ignore your spouse's sin, or brokenness, or immaturity. — John Eldredge

Validation comes to us in two ways: through trials we overcome, and through the words of older men. — John Eldredge

You are the son of a kind, strong, and engaged Father, a Father wise enough to guide you in the Way, generous enough to provide for your journey, offering to walk with you every step. This is perhaps the hardest thing for us to believe - really believe, down deep in our hearts, so that it changes us forever, changes the way we approach each day. — John Eldredge

Don't climb on that, don't break anything, don't be so aggressive, don't be so noisy, don't be so messy, don't make such crazy risks. But God's design - which He placed in boys as the picture of Himself - is a resounding yes. Be fierce, be wild, be passionate. — John Eldredge

Moses does not encounter the living God at the mall. He finds Him (or is found by Him) somewhere out in the deserts of Sinai, a long way from the comforts of Egypt ... Where did the great prophet Elijah go to recover his strength? To the wild. As did John the Baptist, and his cousin, Jesus, Who is led by the Spirit into the wilderness. — John Eldredge

We've made elevator music of Jesus Christ. We've made Him the most boring, bland, blah person; and He was the most revolutionary man. — John Eldredge

Worship is the act of the abandoned heart adoring its God — John Eldredge

We have a Father, and He cares about our internal world - issues of motive, issues of fear, issues of validation. — John Eldredge

You can find that life - if you are willing to embark on a great adventure. — John Eldredge

The world has been wrong about you. They've hated your glory - just as the Evil One hates the glory of God. But we need your gift. Come forth. — John Eldredge

We're told that you can have a relationship with Jesus, but most Christians don't experience Jesus personally like that. They just don't. We honor Him. We respect Him. We worship Him. We don't experience Him and His personality like we do the people we love the most in our lives. — John Eldredge

Now, remember, Jesus did not go around simply being nice to people. This is where the idea of "loving others" has gotten turned into a "get well" card. Christians honestly and sincerely believe that being nice is what they are called to do. No, you are called to do something far more powerful than be nice; you are called to love. And what love has in mind is not "How can I keep things running smoothly here?" but rather, "What does this person truly need?" This will change everything in the way you relate to people; it will help you love them. — John Eldredge

Made in the image of a perfect relationship, we are relational to the core of our beings and filled with a desire for transcendent purpose. We long to be an irreplaceable part of a shared adventure. — John Eldredge

Now every daughter of Eve want to "control her surrounding, her relationships, her God." No longer is she vulnerable; now she will be grasping. No longer does she want simply to share in the adventure; she wants to control it. — John Eldredge

One of the most poisonous of all Satan's whispers is simply, "Things will never change." That lie kills expectation, trapping our heart forever in the present. To keep desire alive and flourishing, we must renew our vision for what lies ahead. Things will not always be like this. Jesus has promised to "make all things new." Eye has not seen, ear has not heard all that God has in store for his lovers, which does not mean "we have no clue so don't even try to imagine," but rather, you cannot outdream God. Desire is kept alive by imagination, the antidote to resignation. We will need imagination, which is to say, we will need hope. — John Eldredge

Most of our addictions [shopping, food, bad relationships] as women flare up when we feel that we are not loved or sought after. — John Eldredge

I wasn't looking for religion; I was looking for a world view. — John Eldredge

Life is a hypocrite if I can't live The way it moves me! — John Eldredge

A Perfect World. Kevin Costner — John Eldredge

Can you picture Ghandi or Buddha storming into the polling place of a local election, shouting, overturning tables, sending the participants fleeing? Now throw a small carnival into the mix, which they also need rout. Impossible. Whoever did this would have to be really committed to clear the building. Fierce and intentional.
This is a breathtaking quality - especially when compared to our present age where doubt masquerades as humility, passivity cloaks as rest, and emasculated indecision poses as laid-back enlightenment. — John Eldredge

Most of the contexts are life and death, by the way, and God is your only hope. Your ezer. If he is not there beside you ... you are dead. A better translation therefore of ezer would be "lifesaver." Kenegdo means alongside, or opposite to, a counterpart. — John Eldredge

Only by walking with God can we hope to find the path that leads to life. That is what it means to be a disciple. After all
aren't we 'followers of Christ'? Then by all means, let's actually follow him. Not ideas about him. Not just his principles. Him. — John Eldredge

Story is the language of the heart. — John Eldredge

In any hand-to-hand combat, there's a constant back-and-forth of blows, — John Eldredge

The story of your life is the story of the long and brutal assault on your heart by the one who knows what you could be and fears it. — John Eldredge

There is a satisfaction we don't want to come to until we come to it in God ... [Disappointments] serve to remind us every day that we cannot make life work the way we want ... If we'll let it, the disappointment can be God's way of continually drawing us back to himself. — John Eldredge

We describe a person without compassion as "heartless," and we urge him or her to "have a heart." Our deepest hurts we call "heartaches." Jilted lovers are "brokenhearted." Courageous soldiers are "bravehearted." The truly evil are "black-hearted" and saints have "hearts of gold." If we need to speak at the most intimate level, we ask for a "heart-to-heart" talk. "Lighthearted" is how we feel on vacation. And when we love someone as truly as we may, we love "with all our heart." But when we lose our passion for life, when a deadness sets in which we cannot ... — John Eldredge

You are radiant this evening. You are absolutely breathtaking. — John Eldredge

I wasn't mean; I wasn't evil. I was nice. And let me tell you, a hesitant man is the last thing in the world a woman needs. She needs a lover and a warrior, not a Really Nice Guy. — John Eldredge

If we can reawaken that fierce quality in a man, hook it up to a higher purpose, release the warrior within, then the boy can grow up and become truly masculine. — John Eldredge

We know if we could truly love, and be loved, and never lose love, we would finally be happy. — John Eldredge

Samson becomes a great and terrible warrior when, and only when, the Spirit of God comes upon him. The rest of the time he's just short of an idiot. What does this story tell us about the God whose Spirit this is? — John Eldredge

Christianity, in its true form, tells us that there is an Author and that he is good, the essence of all that is good and beautiful and true, for he is the source of all these things. It tells us that he has set our hearts' longings within us, for he has made us to live in an Epic. It warns that the truth is always in danger of being twisted and corrupted and stolen from us because there is a Villain in the Story who hates our hearts and wants to destroy us. It calls us up into a Story that is truer and deeper than any other, and assures us that there we will find the meaning of our lives. — John Eldredge

The more that you come to know Jesus for who He really is, loving Him is not a problem. — John Eldredge

We are, all of us, utterly committed and deeply devoted to our "style", our "way", our "approach to life." We have absolutely no intention of giving it up. Not even for love. So God creates an environment where we have to. It's called marriage. — John Eldredge

This is the time for a young man to stop saying, "Why is life so hard?" He takes the hardness as the call to fight, to rise up, take it on. — John Eldredge

Aggression is part of the masculine design, we are hardwired for it ... Little girls do not invent games where large numbers of people die, where bloodshed is a prerequisite for having fun. Hockey, for example, was not a feminine creation. Nor was boxing. A boy wants to attack something - and so does a man, even if it's only a little white ball on a tee. — John Eldredge

Just like God, a woman is not a problem to be solved but a vast wonder to be enjoyed. This is so true of her sexuality. Few women can or even want to "just do it." Foreplay is crucial to her heart, the whispering and loving and exploring of one another that culminates in intercourse. That is a picture of what it means to love her soul. She yearns to be known and that takes time and intimacy. It requires an unveiling. As she is sought after, she reveals more of her beauty. As she unveils her beauty, she draws us to know her more deeply. — John Eldredge

When winter fails to provide an adequate snow base, my boys bring their sleds in the house and ride them down the stairs. Just the other day, my wife found them with a rope out their second-story bedroom window, preparing to rappel down the side of the house. The recipe for fun is pretty simple raising boys: Add to any activity an element of danger, stir in a little exploration, add a dash of destruction, and you've got yourself a winner. — John Eldredge

If strangers and strange sights can shake the world of children, it takes the people they know and love best to pull it out from under them like a chair. — John Eldredge

What have we to offer, really, other than who we are and what God has been pouring into our lives? It was not by accident that you were born; it was not by chance that you have the desires you do. The Victorious Trinity has planned on your being here now, "for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14). We need you. — John Eldredge

You get guys around a campfire, and they start telling their stories. That's the fellowship that they want to be in. — John Eldredge

They ignore what is deep and true to a man's heart, his real passions, and simply try to shape him up through various forms of pressure. — John Eldredge

We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand.8 — John Eldredge

When it comes to helping another human being, you can treat the symptoms or you can treat the cause. Most people dabble in symptom management, and that is why most people don't seem to be getting better. — John Eldredge

You live in a world at war. Spiritual attack must be a category you think in or you will misunderstand more than half of what happens in your marriage. — John Eldredge

If he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat. — John Eldredge

The beauty is that as you become more whole, you can become holier. And as you become holier, you can become more whole. — John Eldredge

The gift of presence is a rare and beautiful gift. To come - unguarded, undistracted - and be fully present, fully engaged with whoever we are with at that moment. — John Eldredge

Shouting is obvious; not talking to each other slips by. — John Eldredge

To put it bluntly, your flesh is a weasel, a poser, and a selfish pig. And your flesh is not you. Did you know that? Your flesh is not the real you. — John Eldredge

And so the great battle begins in earnest: the battle for your heart, the battle to find a life worth living, the battle not to lose heart as you find a life worth living. — John Eldredge

A man whose identity flows out of deep validation doesn't wilt under criticism. He enjoys applause when it comes but frankly isn't desperate for it. He can walk away from work at five o'clock; he doesn't measure his success by how much money he makes. We grow into this man, to be sure; I'm not setting a new standard of perfection. But what I am describing — John Eldredge

The Lover of our souls, the One who has pursued us down through space and time, who gave his own life to rescue us from the Kingdom of Darkness, has made it clear: He does not want to lose us. He longs for us to be with him forever. — John Eldredge

Thus we might not know we have a sage at the table, for he will remain silent while the "experts" prattle on and on. — John Eldredge

The early Celtic Christians called the Holy Spirit 'the wild goose.' And the reason why is they knew that you cannot tame him. — John Eldredge

Life needs a man to be fierce - and fiercely devoted. The wounds he will take throughout his life will cause him to lose heart if all he has been trained to be is soft. — John Eldredge

Simone Weil was absolutely right- beauty and affliction are the only two things that can pierce our hearts. Because this is so true, we must have a measure of beauty in our lives proportionate to our affliction. No more. Much more. Is this not God's prescription for us? Just take a look around. — John Eldredge

You know the phrase 'Jesus laughed' isn't ever used in the Gospels. So, most people walk away with the idea that Jesus is a pretty serious guy, pretty sour faced most of the time, pretty upset at what's going on around Him. — John Eldredge

One of the great wonders of Christianity is that you were born into your times, to set your times aright. — John Eldredge

There is something about human nature that just doesn't want to face the reality that we live in two worlds. We live in the physical, material world where we have jobs, read books, and go about our business. And we live in a spiritual world - and that is a world at war. — John Eldredge

The true test of a man, the beginning of his redemption, actually starts when he can no longer rely on what he's used all his life. The real journey begins when the false self fails. — John Eldredge

There is something else I am after, out here in the wild. I am searching for an even more elusive prey ... something that can only be found through the help of wilderness. I am looking for my heart. — John Eldredge

In the spacious love of God, our souls can lie down and rest. This love from him is not something we must struggle for, earn, or fear to lose. It is bestowed. He has bestowed it upon us. He has chosen us. And nothing can separate us from his love. Not even we, ourselves. We are made for such a love. Our hearts yearn to be loved intimately, personally, and yes, romantically. We are created to be the object of desire and affection of one who is totally and completely in love with us. And we are. — John Eldredge

The years have simply reconciled us to the fact that we are all here for the transformation. — John Eldredge

I shall take the heart," returned the Tin Woodman; "for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world." (L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) — John Eldredge

Emasculation happens in marriage as well. Women are often attracted to the wilder side of a man, but once having caught him they settle down to the task of domesticating him. Ironically, if he gives in he'll resent her for it, and she in turn will wonder where the passion has gone. — John Eldredge

Most Christians have lost the life of their heart and with it, their romance with God. — John Eldredge

He created Adam for adventure, battle and beauty; he created us for a unique place in his story and he is committed to bringing us back to the original design. — John Eldredge

The true story of every person in this world is not the story you see, the external story. The true story of each person is the journey of his or her heart. — John Eldredge

'Wild at Heart' created a set of expectations maybe, partly, on my part, certainly on my publisher's part, but also in the world out there, that my next books would be as remarkable. — John Eldredge

The personality of the artist leaks through their work. God included. He reveals himself through nature, as the Scriptures testify. — John Eldredge

It takes courage to seek God, and courage to wait for His reply. — John Eldredge

How much more so when it comes to the deep truths of the Christian faith. God loves you; you matter to him. That is a fact, stated as a proposition. I imagine most of you have heard it any number of times. Why, then, aren't we the happiest people on earth? It hasn't reached our hearts. Facts stay lodged in the mind, for the most part. They don't speak at the level we need to hear. Proposition speaks to the mind, but when you tell a story, you speak to the heart. We've been telling each other stories since the beginning of time. It is our way of communicating the timeless truths, passing them down. And that's why when Jesus comes to town, he speaks in a way that will get past all our intellectual defenses and disarm our hearts. He tells a certain kind of story. — John Eldredge

Most people don't even try to learn the ways of the kingdom; they just go about their days with a practical agnosticism, hoping things work out, tossing up prayers like they hope to score on a Jesus lottery ticket. — John Eldredge

Security is not found in the absence of danger, but in the presence of Jesus. — John Eldredge

In your life you are William Wallace - who else could be? There is no other man who can replace you in your life, in the arena you've been called to. If you leave your place in the line, it will remain empty. No one else can be who you are meant to be. You are the hero in your story. Not a bit player, not an extra, but the main man. — John Eldredge

Who am I really? The answer to that question is found in the answer to another. What is God's heart toward me, or, how do I affect him? If God is the Pursuer, the Ageless Romancer, the Lover, then there has to be a Beloved, one who is the Pursued. This is our role in the story. — John Eldredge

The balancing act we parents attempt is convincing our children: 1. You are loved more than you can imagine. 2. The world does not revolve around you. — John Eldredge

Instead of asking, 'What should a woman do - what is her role?' it would be far more helpful to ask, 'What is a woman - what is her design?' and, 'Why did God place Woman in our midst? — John Eldredge