Kay Warren Quotes & Sayings

...don't simplify your life so you can do more. Simplify your life so you can focus on what matters - and you are what matters. Simplifying your life means focusing on who you are physically, emotionally, and spiritually. If you want to choose joy daily, that's the place to start. — Kay Warren

Spiritual growth doesn't happen automatically and is rarely pretty; we will all be "under construction" until the day we die and we finally take hold of the "life that is truly life" (1 Tim. 6:19). — Kay Warren

To experience joy on a daily basis, learn what it means to live in the moment. Notice I said in, not for. To live for the moment is irresponsible and leads to decisions you may regret. You may already have a testimony of what it meant for you to live for the moment. Living in the moment helps us recognize that God can be found in this moment, whether it contains joy or sorrow. As a perfectionist, I'm always waiting for a perfect moment before I enjoy it. But nothing is ever perfect! That's why the Bible encourages us to "make the most of every opportunity" for doing good (Eph. 5:16 — Kay Warren

That's the essence of our faith. It's living with hope in the face of mystery. We live a life of faith completely full of hope, staring mystery right in the face. You can't have one without the other. Your faith won't survive without hope, and hope won't survive without the realization that there are mysteries that will not be answered. If you can embrace both, you can have a vibrant faith. — Kay Warren

Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things. — Kay Warren

People with depression have something very valuable to teach us ... how to live when it doesn't ever feel good. — Kay Warren

one of the ways to decrease stress and increase joy is to find the "bless in the mess. — Kay Warren

You and I were made for connection, to be emotionally attached to others. It's a well-known fact that physical touch is crucial for us as human beings, not just for emotional health but for our very survival. Studies show that the elderly die sooner if they don't have physical touch. Babies are more likely to be diagnosed with "failure to thrive" if they're not touched. One — Kay Warren

In it she told me, "Thanks a lot! I'm ruined - gloriously ruined." I nodded with sudden understanding. "that's it - that describes what has happened to me." I was ruined for life as I had known it before, but gloriously ruined! — Kay Warren

The greatest weapon we have against evil is doing good in Jesus' name. — Kay Warren

We try to bargain with God ... I will follow you but don't touch my children, or my husband, don't give me cancer ... We are afraid our surrender to God will unleash evil. But evil will come, because evil will come. We live in a broken world. — Kay Warren

Believe that there is a purpose in your pain. — Kay Warren

An untested faith is an unreliable faith. — Kay Warren

Fallen man is both terrified of vulnerability and committed to maintaining independence. — Kay Warren

Mike Mason says, "A decision to rejoice in the present changes not only the present, it also changes my view of the past and ignites my future with hope."[26] I've stopped demanding that a moment last longer than it can. I don't require a moment to be anything other than what it is: a brief span of time that has been given by a gracious Father. I will wring every bit of pleasure out of this moment because I don't know when the next one will come. We're rarely satisfied with today; we spend too much time regretting the unrepeatable past and wishing we could get a do-over, or we waste our energy on worry and anxiety about the unknowable future. Either way, TODAY is ignored or minimized. — Kay Warren

we are going to experience joy in this lifetime, there's only one possible way: We will have to choose it. We will have to choose it in spite of unbelievable circumstances. We will have to choose it in the middle of a situation that seems too hard to bear. We will have to choose it even if our worst nightmare comes true. This isn't what we want to hear. We keep trying to line up all the little ducks in a row, to smooth out the rough spots, and to shore up all the wobbly places, still convinced that if we get our act together, we finish the huge project, our health clears up, we get a raise, or we can just get things right, we can finally be joyful. — Kay Warren

When trials expose our faith-life, will others see us embracing both the joy and the pain of our life? We do not need to live out one and deny the other. Those around us need to recognize that both of these elements are part of life, and both give us hope for heaven. — Kay Warren

When you are wanting to comfort someone in their grief take the words 'at least' out of your vocabulary. In saying them you minimise someone else's pain ... Don't take someone else's grief and try to put it in a box that YOU can manage. Learn to truly grieve with others for as long as it may take. — Kay Warren

I would rather walk every day in the darkness with a God who remains a mystery to me than in the light with a God I completely understand. — Kay Warren

Joy begins with our convictions about spiritual truths we're willing to bet our lives on, and truths that are lodged so deeply within us that they produce a settled assurance about God. — Kay Warren

In the United States, if one family out of every four churches adopted a child, there would be no orphans in the country — Kay Warren

tender, thoughtful and affectionate. Men are more helped by sympathy, than by service; love is more than money, and a kind word will give more pleasure than a present."[23] If you live by yourself, you may have to get creative in finding ways to express love extravagantly. While the people at your work may look askance at you if you suddenly start handing out hugs, it's almost always appropriate to shake hands or touch a shoulder or an elbow lightly. Certainly there are people at your church who will be receptive to a hug. If not, find a different church! Those who love lavishly, extravagantly, find their souls flooded with joy. — Kay Warren