"Why is purity such a struggle? Why is it so difficult to order our lives in a way that allows Christ to shine through us? ... We destroy purity by equating it with legalism and forgetting that it is first and foremost a work of the heart. Reducing it to a set of rules trivializes the purpose of purity and creates a veneer of purity without the genuine, underlying character." — David Edwards

Tim Keller

Our character is mainly shaped by our primary social community—the people with whom we eat, play, converse, and study.

"There are... few stronger indications of ignorance of the power and evil of sin than the confident assertion of our ability to resist and subdue it." — Charles Hedge

"Humility is the root, mother, nurse, foundation, and bond of all virtue." — St. John Chrysostom

"To make the improving of our own character our central aim is hardly the highest kind of goodness. True goodness forgets itself and goes out to do the right thing for no other reason than that it is right." — Lesslie Newbigin

"It is not that we keep His commandments first, and that then He loves; but that He loves us, and then we keep His commandments. This is that grace, which is revealed to the humble, but hidden from the proud." — St. Augustine of Hippo

"Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees." — William Cowper

"There remains for us only the very narrow way, often extremely difficult to find, of living every day as though it were our last, and yet living in faith and responsibility as though there were to be a great future." — Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Salt, when dissolved in water, may disappear, but it does not cease to exist. We can be sure of its presence by tasting the water. Likewise, the indwelling Christ, though unseen, will be made evident to others from the love which he imparts to us." — Sadhu Sundar Singh

"We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles." — Jimmy Carter

"Without God man has no reference point to define himself. 20th century philosophy manifests the chaos of man seeking to understand himself as a creature with dignity while having no reference point for that dignity." — R. C. Sproul

Richard Halverson, longtime Senate chaplain, made famous this benediction: 

"You go nowhere by accident.  Wherever you go, God is sending you there.  Wherever you are, God has put you there.  He has a purpose in your being there.  Christ, who indwells you, has something He wants to do through you, wherever you are.  Believe this, and go in His grace, and love and power."

"If sinners be dammed, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for." — Charles H. Spurgeon

"Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience, withdraws from grace." — Thomas à Kempis

"Do not be too quick to condemn the man who no longer believes in God: for it is perhaps your own coldness and avarice and mediocrity and materialism and selfishness that have chilled his faith." — Thomas Merton

"However high be your endeavors, unless you renounce and subjugate your own will — unless you forget yourself and all that pertains to yourself — not one step will you advance on the road to perfection." — John of the Cross

"Jesus can turn water into wine, but He can't turn your whining into anything." — Mark Steele

Peace

"Being at peace with yourself is a direct result of finding peace with God." — Olin Miller

"Guilt is concerned with the past. Worry is concerned about the future. Contentment enjoys the present."

"For peace of mind, resign as general manager of the universe." — Larry Eisenberg

The Skeptic

"A skeptic is a person who, when he sees the handwriting on the wall, claims it is a forgery." — Morris Bender

Depend On It...

"Depend on it, God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supplies." — J. Hudson Taylor

"The greatest act of faith is when man decides he is not God." — Oliver Wendell Holmes

Plan large

"If God be your partner, make your plans large." — Dwight L. Moody

Debt

"Through a tree we were made debtors to God; so through a tree we have our debt canceled." — Irenaeus

Servant & Master

"Money is a very excellent servant, but a terrible master." — P. T. Barnum

Just One

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one." — Mother Teresa

"A day hemmed in prayer is less likely to unravel." — Author Unknown

"He who provides for this life, but takes no care for eternity, is wise for a moment, but a fool forever." — Tillotson

Morality

"Morality may keep you out of jail, but it takes the blood of Jesus Christ to keep you out of hell." — Charles H. Spurgeon

Catching some Zzzzz'sss

Jett