Peter Scazzero Quotes & Sayings

Loving well is the goal of the Christian life. — Peter Scazzero

Ignoring our emotions is turning our back on reality. Listening to our emotions ushers us into reality. And reality is where we meet God. . . . Emotions are the language of the soul. They are the cry that gives the heart a voice. . . — Peter Scazzero

True spirituality frees us to live joyfully in the present. — Peter Scazzero

Our relationship with God and relationship with others are two sides of the same coin. — Peter Scazzero

By failing to let others be themselves before God and move at their own pace, we inevitably project onto them our own discomfort with their choice to live life differently than we do. — Peter Scazzero

For example, Jesus' stunning success in teaching and feeding the 5,000 at the beginning of John 6 is followed just a few paragraphs later by a corresponding numerical failure: "At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him" (John 6:66 NLT). Jesus didn't wring his hands and question his preaching strategy; he remained content, knowing he was in the Father's will. He had a larger perspective on what God was doing. Success isn't always bigger and better. The — Peter Scazzero

Respect is not a feeling. It is how we treat another person. — Peter Scazzero

When genuine love is released in a relationship, God's presence is manifest. — Peter Scazzero

emotional health and spiritual maturity are inseparable. It is not possible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. — Peter Scazzero

We don't become mature human beings by getting lucky or cleverly circumventing loss, and certainly not by avoidance and distraction. Learn to lament. Learn this lamentation. We're mortals, after all. We and everyone around are scheduled for death (mortis). Get used to it. Take up your cross. It prepares us and those around us for resurrection. - Eugene Peterson — Peter Scazzero

Can we really love our neighbors well without loving ourselves? — Peter Scazzero

taking care of the tasks of life. We know we have found our balance when we are so deeply rooted in God that our activity is marked by the peaceful, joyful, rich quality of our contemplation. — Peter Scazzero

The critical issue on the journey with God is not "Am I happy?" but "Am I free? — Peter Scazzero

When we deny our pain, losses, and feelings year after year, we become less and less human. We transform slowly into empty shells with smiley faces painted on them. Sad to say, that is the fruit of much of our discipleship in our churches. But when I began to allow myself to feel a wider range of emotions, including sadness, depression, fear, and anger, a revolution in my spirituality was unleashed. I soon realized that a failure to appreciate the biblical place of feelings within our larger Christian lives has done extensive damage, keeping free people in Christ in slavery. — Peter Scazzero

Changing the way we have lived for twenty or forty or sixty years is nothing short of a revolution. 4. — Peter Scazzero

Be willing to tolerate the discomfort necessary for growth. — Peter Scazzero

Few of us know the experience of being loved for being just who we are. — Peter Scazzero

Fire What makes a fire burn is space between the logs, a breathing space. Too much of a good thing, too many logs packed in too tight can douse the flames almost as surely as a pail of water would. So building fires requires attention to the spaces in between, as much as the wood. When we are able to build open spaces in the same way we have learned to pile on the logs, then we can come to see how it is fuel, and absence of the fuel together, that make fire possible. We only need lay a log lightly from time to time. A fire grows simply because the space is there, with openings in which the flame that knows just how it wants to burn can find its way. 12 Judy Brown — Peter Scazzero

Life can be difficult, so have fun whenever you can to the glory of God. — Peter Scazzero

Jesus was not SELFLESS. He did not live as if ONLY other people counted. He knew his value and worth. He had friends. He asked people to help him. At the same time Jesus was not SELFISH. He did not live as if nobody counted. He gave his life out of love for others. From a place of loving union with his Father, Jesus had a mature, healthy 'true self. — Peter Scazzero

God intends that we mature in learning to recognize how he speaks and guides us through our feelings. — Peter Scazzero

there is nothing we can do or not do that would cause God to love us any more than he does right now. — Peter Scazzero

Lord, help me to be still before you. Lead me to a greater vision of who you are, and in so doing, may I see myself - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Grant me the courage to follow you, to be faithful to become the unique person you have created me to be. I ask you for the Holy Spirit's power to not copy another person's life or journey. "God, submerge me in the darkness of your love, that the consciousness of my false, everyday self falls away from [me] like a soiled garment. . . . May my 'deep self' fall into your presence. . . . knowing you alone . . . carried away into eternity like a dead leaf in the November wind."24 In Jesus' name, amen. — Peter Scazzero

God never loses any part of our past for his future when we surrender ourselves to him. Every mistake, sin, and detour we take in the journey of life is taken by God and becomes his gift for a future of blessing. — Peter Scazzero