Quotes from Rick Warren

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.

When you think of the limitation in your life, you may be tempted to conclude, "God could never use me." But God is never limited by our limitations.

YOU ARE NOT AN ACCIDENT. Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He was not at all surprised by your birth. In fact, he expected it.

I don't know all the keys to success, but one key to failure is to try to please everyone. Being controlled by the opinions of others is a guaranteed way to miss God's purposes for your life.

Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. He thought of you first. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at this very moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you! The Bible says, "The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me.

There is no greater antidepressant than communication and fellowship with God.

He wants to be included in every activity, every conversation, every problem, and even every thought.

Pain is the fuel of passion — it energizes us with an intensity to change that we don't normally possess. C. S. Lewis said, "Pain is God's megaphone." It is God's way of arousing us from spiritual lethargy. Your problems are not punishment; they are wake-up calls from a loving God. God is not mad at you; he's mad about you, and he will do whatever it takes to bring you back into fellowship with him.

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

Your most profound and intimate experiences of worship will likely be in your darkest days - when your heart is broken, when you feel abandoned, when you're out of options, when the pain is great - and you turn to God alone.

God was thinking of you even before he made the world. In fact, that's why he created it! God designed this planet's environment just so we could live in it. We are the focus of his love and the most valuable of all his creation.

The most common mistake Christians make in worship today is seeking an experience rather than seeking God.

Genuine surrender says, "Father, if this problem, pain, sickness, or circumstance is needed to fulfill your purpose and glory in my life or in another's, please don't take it away." This level of maturity does not come easy.

Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. -Rick Warren

To be a friend of God, you must care about all the people around you whom God cares about. Friends of God tell their friends about God.

Because God is sovereignly in control, accidents are just incidents in God's good plan for you.

God is not waiting for you to get physically healthy or spiritually mature before he starts loving you or enjoying you. He loves you right now, and he will be cheering you on at every stage of your growth and development. He is not waiting for you to cross the finish line first. He is smiling at you as you run the race.

the greatest hindrance to God's blessing in your life is not others, it is yourself — your self-will, stubborn pride, and personal ambition. You cannot fulfill God's purposes for your life while focusing on your own plans.

Impression without expression causes depression. Study without service leads to spiritual stagnation.

Nothing will change permanently until you dig down to the bedrock of truth about your life and God's purpose for it.

The greatest tragedy is not death, but life without purpose.

Every problem is a character-building opportunity, and the more difficult it is, the greater the potential for building spiritual muscle and moral fiber.

You may be serving in obscurity in some small place, feeling unknown and unappreciated. Listen, God put you were you are for a purpose! ... He will let you know if he wants you somewhere else.

If you want to be used by God, you must care about what God cares about, what he cares about most is the redemption of the people he made.