Quotes about Growth

Imagine how much needless frustration could be avoided if we learned from each other's life lessons. Mature people develop the habit of extracting lessons from everyday experiences.

God has not called you to be the best in the world at anything! He has called you to be the best you can be, given your background, experiences, opportunities, and abilities.

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

A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree. PROVERBS 11:28 (MSG)

It's encouraging to know that all of God's closest friends — Moses, David, Abraham, Job, and others — had bouts with doubt. But instead of masking their misgivings with pious clichés, they candidly voiced them openly and publicly. Expressing doubt is sometimes the first step toward the next level of intimacy with God.

Learning to love unselfishly is not an easy task. It runs counter to our self-centered nature. That's why we're given a lifetime to learn it.

God often attaches a major weakness to a major strength to keep our egos in check. A limitation can act as a governor to keep us from going too fast and running ahead of God.

Every problem is a character-building opportunity, and the more difficult it is, the greater the potential for building spiritual muscle and moral fiber. Paul said, "We know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character.

Every church needs to grow warmer through fellowship, deeper through discipleship, stronger through worship, broader through ministry, and larger through evangelism.

The fact is, it is selfish for a church to not want to grow. A church that says, "We've got enough people, we've got a nice fellowship. Our church is just the right size. We just need to focus on the members we already have." That church is, in reality, actually saying, "The rest of the world can go to hell. We don't care.

Remember how far you've come, not just how far you have to go. You are not where you want to be, but neither are you where you used to be.

That is why the key to long-lasting success is to develop habits — new, positive habits that replace our self-defeating behaviors.