Rick Warren Quotes & Sayings

A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree. PROVERBS 11:28 — Rick Warren

To discover you purpose in life you must turn to God's Word, not the world's wisdom. You must build your life on eternal truths, not pop psychology, success-motivation, or inspirational stories. — Rick Warren

You may be Catholic or Protestant or Buddhist or Baptist or Muslim or Mormon or Jewish or Jain, or you have no religion at all. I'm not interested in your religious background. Because God did not create the universe for us to have religion. He came for us to have a relationship with him. — Rick Warren

Never confuse activity with productivity. — Rick Warren

Absolutely nothing will revitalize a discouraged church faster than rediscovering it's purpose. — Rick Warren

I don't care whether you're Baptist, Buddhist, Mormon, Methodist, Jewish, Muslim, or no religion at all. Jesus Christ still loves you. You still matter to God. — Rick Warren

Envy asks, "Why them? Why do they get what I don't have?" Gratitude asks, "Why me? Why do I get all that I have?" David — Rick Warren

While we worry about how fast we grow, God is concerned about how strong we grow. — Rick Warren

If you have ever said, "I didn't get anything out of worship today," you worshiped for the wrong reason. Worship isn't for you. It's for God. — Rick Warren

You are never persuasive when you're abrasive. — Rick Warren

The Bible is clear that God considers 40 days a spiritually significant time period. Whenever God wanted to prepare someone for his purposes, he took 40 days ... — Rick Warren

It is mind-boggling to me that the Almighty power created everything I see; the Bible says that God created the entire universe just so he could create this galaxy just so he could create Earth so he could create human beings so he could create a family. — Rick Warren

Gratitude asks, Why me? Why do I get all that I have? — Rick Warren

If God never did anything else for you, he would still deserve your continual praise for the rest of your life because of what Jesus did for you on the cross. God's Son died for you! This is the greatest reason for worship. — Rick Warren

God wants to use you to make a difference in His world. He wants to work through you. What matters is not the duration of your life, but the donation of it. Not how long you lived, but how you lived. — Rick Warren

As long as you pretend to be self-sufficient, you short-circuit God's power in your life. You need to admit your inadequacy and say, "God, I can't handle this!" — Rick Warren

Surrendering to God is not passive resignation, fatalism, or an excuse for laziness. — Rick Warren

God never does anything accidentally... — Rick Warren

When our dreams shatter and we feel helpless, that's when we have to believe in God's power and presence. — Rick Warren

When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you'll never get back.Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time — Rick Warren

Pretentiousness repels but authenticity attracts, and vulnerability is the pathway to intimacy. — Rick Warren

Anytime you use your God-given abilities to help others, you are fulfilling your purpose of life.
What matters is not the Duration of your life, but the Donation of it. — Rick Warren

Because God is love, the most important lesson he wants you to learn on earth is how to love. — Rick Warren

People forget that the church is bigger than China. It speaks more languages than the United Nations. It has more volunteers than all the NGOs in the world put together. — Rick Warren

Obviously there have been historically many different theories of the atonement and I think each of them has a part. But I think fundamentally it is the substitutionary understanding that God - Jesus took our payment and you can't understand. — Rick Warren

You don't bring glory or pleasure to God by hiding your abilities or by trying to be someone else. You only bring him enjoyment by being you. — Rick Warren

Jesus measured greatness in terms of service not status. God determines your greatness by how many people you serve, not how many people serve you. — Rick Warren

Let me tell you how worthwhile you are. You are infinitely valuable to God. First, God created you. Second, Jesus died for you. Third, he puts his Spirit within you. Fourth, he wants you to be with him forever in eternity. That's how valuable you are to God. You are infinitely valuable to God. — Rick Warren

We receive God's grace by humbly admitting that we need it. — Rick Warren

I wish that those who believe in the doctrines of grace would be more gracious. That's all I'd say ... I'm an evangelical. I believe the doctrines of grace. — Rick Warren

People need fewer 'ought-to' sermons, and more 'how-to' sermons. The deepest kind of teaching is that which makes a difference in people's day-to-day lives. Jesus spoke to the crowd with an interesting style. When God's Word is taught in an uninteresting way, people don't just think the pastor is boring, they think God is boring! — Rick Warren

Your spiritual gifts were not given for your own benefit but for the benefit of others, just as other people were given gifts for your benefit. — Rick Warren

When real revival happens, it changes the moral climate of a community ... because we've turned from our wicked ways. — Rick Warren

If you try to serve people, it impresses them. If you try to impress people it irritates them. — Rick Warren

Ever feel like God is a million miles away? The truth is, he's not. Whatever struggle you're going through, you can rest assured you're not alone. You have God in your corner. — Rick Warren

Many people, especially men, feel it is an admission of weakness to ask for help or to express a need. But there is absolutely no shame in needing others. — Rick Warren

Martin Luther said, "You cannot keep birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair." You can't keep the Devil from suggesting thoughts, but you can choose not to dwell or act on them. — Rick Warren

There is nothing quite as potent as a focused life, one lived on purpose. — Rick Warren

What is your assurance of salvation? The promise of God's Word. If God says it, that settles it, because God cannot lie. You can trust the promise of God's Word. — Rick Warren

While it is wise to learn from experience, it is wiser to learn from the experiences of others. — Rick Warren

Grief is a good thing. It's the way we get through the transitions of life. — Rick Warren

Explanations don't comfort. You won't feel better if you know why. It won't hurt any less. — Rick Warren

In Eden, worship was not an event to attend, but a perpetual attitude. — Rick Warren

What happens outwardly in your life is not as important as what happens inside you. Your circumstances are temporary, but your character will last forever. — Rick Warren

THE HEART OF WORSHIP IS SURRENDER. — Rick Warren

The average American consumes ten pounds of chemical additives a year. — Rick Warren

Spiritual emptiness is a universal disease. — Rick Warren

A Christian ought to speak kindly even when given the opportunity to retaliate. — Rick Warren

In all my travels, I've never seen a country's population more determined to forgive, and to build and succeed than in Rwanda. — Rick Warren

Who are you going to live for - yourself or God? — Rick Warren

You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, so make every effort to continue together in this way. EPHESIANS 4:3 (NCV) — Rick Warren

God intentionally allows you to go through painful experiences to equip you for ministry to others. — Rick Warren

Sacrifice is the essence of love, which is the essence of God. — Rick Warren

You are as close to God as you choose to be. — Rick Warren

God has a purpose behind every problem. He uses circumstances to develop our character. In fact, he depends more on circumstances to make us like Jesus than he depends on our reading the Bible. — Rick Warren

When you decide to live a totally surrendered life, that decision will be tested. Sometimes it will mean doing inconvenient, unpopular, costly, or seemingly impossible tasks. It will often mean doing the opposite of what you feel like doing. — Rick Warren

I believe that you measure the health or strength of a church by its sending capacity rather than its seating capacity. — Rick Warren

But no one who is lost has lost one ounce of value to God. Even if you don't have a relationship with him, you have immense value to God. — Rick Warren

Here is the good news, the truth that will set you free: You don't need their approval to be happy! So let it go! Stop wasting emotional energy on something that is never going to happen and something that isn't necessary for you to be happy. They are miserable, but you don't have to be. There is no sane reason for both of you to be miserable! — Rick Warren

God is never in a hurry, but he is always on time. — Rick Warren

Every day I get a choice. I can choose to go God's way or I can choose to go my own way or Satan's way or if I walk out of this door I don't know that I blame myself if my choice.. because the bottom line is I want what I want what I want ... People ask me what the greatest sin is. I feel the greatest sin is to want to be God: Pride, I want my own way. What it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ - give as much of yourself as you understand to as much of Jesus as you understand at that moment ... — Rick Warren

To begin loving people today, we must close the door on the past. And that cannot happen without forgiveness! Forgive those who have hurt you - for your sake, not because they deserve it. — Rick Warren

Humility is not denying your strengths, humility is being honest about your weaknesses. — Rick Warren

When the Christian praises and gives thanks to God, this not only pleases God, but it enriches the Christian's life with joy. It is a reciprocating transaction between God and man. — Rick Warren

In Psalm 72, Solomon prays for power and fame but he says the purpose of influence is to speak up for others and one is the immigrant. He doesn't delineate between legal and illegal. — Rick Warren

Living the rest of your life for the glory of God will require a change in your priorities, your schedule, your relationships, and everything else. — Rick Warren

You are who you are for a reason. You're part of an intricate plan. You're a precious and perfect unique design, Called God's special woman or man. You look like you look for a reason. Our God made no mistake. He knit you together within the womb, You're just what he wanted to make. The parents you had were the ones he chose, And no matter how you may feel, They were custom-designed with God's plan in mind, And they bear the Master's seal. No, that trauma you faced was not easy. And God wept that it hurt you so; But it was allowed to shape your heart So that into his likeness you'd grow. You are who you are for a reason, You've been formed by the Master's rod. You are who you are, beloved, Because there is a God!11 — Rick Warren

Christians can be positive even in a negative situation because we know God has a purpose for allowing that problem. — Rick Warren

He (God) usually prefers to work through people rather than perform miracles, so that we will depend on each other for fellowship. — Rick Warren

You may hesitate, wondering whether you will have strength to live for God. Don't worry. God will give you what you need if you will just make the choice to live for him. — Rick Warren

There is nothing God won't do for the person totally absorbed with pleasing him. — Rick Warren

Without a clear purpose, you will keep changing directions, jobs, relationships, churches, or other externals - hoping each change will settle the confusion or fill the emptiness in your heart. — Rick Warren

Nothing works perfectly. The weather doesn't work perfectly. Because of sin in the world, nothing works perfectly. But in spite of that we can find comfort. We can find strength. — Rick Warren

I happen to agree with many of the liberal emphasis on compassion, justice and equality. I just disagree that it's the government's role to provide everything. — Rick Warren

You need to doubt your doubts & believe your beliefs. — Rick Warren

Marriage doesn't create problems. It reveals them. You bring unresolved stuff into it. — Rick Warren

If you are a member of a small group or class, I urge you to make a group covenant that includes the nine characteristics of biblical fellowship: We will share our true feelings (authenticity), forgive each other (mercy), speak the truth in love (honesty), admit our weaknesses (humility), respect our differences (courtesy), not gossip (confidentiality), and make group a priority (frequency). — Rick Warren

Real worship costs. — Rick Warren

You have to trust God even when you don't get what you want. — Rick Warren

It's only when we forget ourselves that we do the things that deserve to be remembered. — Rick Warren

God hates loneliness, and community is God's answer to loneliness. When we walk alongside other people, we find a community where we learn how to love. — Rick Warren

Measured against eternity, our time on earth is just a blink of an eye, but the consequences of it will last forever. — Rick Warren

People are interested by talent. God is impressed by character — Rick Warren

Knowing your purpose prepares you for eternity. — Rick Warren

God's Word is not meant just to inform you, but to transform you. — Rick Warren

Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. Humility is thinking more of others. — Rick Warren

The first thing on Dr. Amen's master to-do list, the first thing he sees each day, is his gratitude list. Rather than just writing down a few things, he keeps a running tab on what he is grateful for, looks at it every day, and adds to it as joyful moments occur. — Rick Warren

William James said, The best use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it. — Rick Warren

Most of us want to have enough ... good works to get into heaven, but enough bad works to be fun. — Rick Warren

Interior of his purposes ... . It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest — Rick Warren

Use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God. — Rick Warren

How much are you worth? Jesus says, with his arms stretched out on the cross, "I'm willing to die for you, because you mean this much to me." — Rick Warren

it's hard to be spiritually strong and mentally alert when you are emotionally stressed or physically fatigued. — Rick Warren

Living for God's glory is the greatest achievement we can accomplish with our lives. — Rick Warren

The more you care about the powerless, the more power you have. The more you serve those with no influence, the more influence God gives you. The more you humble yourself, the more you're honored by others. — Rick Warren

Every small group has at least one 'difficult' person in it. If you don't immediately recognize who that person is
it's probably you! — Rick Warren

Since pleasing God is the first purpose of your life, your most important task is to discover how to do that. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it. EPHESIANS 5:10 THE MESSAGE — Rick Warren

Obedience unlocks God's power. — Rick Warren

The deepest level of worship is praising God inspite of pain, trusting Him during a trial, surrendering
while suffering, and loving Him when He seems distant. — Rick Warren

We are human beings, not human doings. — Rick Warren