Tim Keller > Quotes

“If you make work your identity and you succeed, it’ll go to your head. If you fail, it’ll go to your heart”
― Tim Keller

“The central basis of Christian assurance is not how much our hearts are set on God, but how unshakably his heart is set on us”
― Tim Keller

“The most powerful kind of leader is one who uses his or her authority ultimately to serve the ones being led.”
― Tim Keller

“An idol will always break your heart because no created thing can bear the freight of your deepest hopes or the weight of your souls longings.”
― Tim Keller

“It is hard to stay angry at someone if you are praying for them. It is also hard to stay angry unless you feel superior, and it is hard to feel superior if you are praying for them, since in prayer you approach God as a forgiven sinner.”
― Tim Keller

“A Christian, when he or she has just experienced a success, should say: But this success does not increase Christ's love for me. In fact, it is only because of His love for me that this has happened, not the other way around! And a Christian, when he or she has just experienced a failure, should say: If I had not failed in this way, that would not make me any more loved and accepted by God than I am in this moment! My performance is irrelevant. In fact, God is always working for my good (Romans 8:28) - He has allowed this to happen because He loves me, not because He doesn't.”
― Tim Keller

“When you come to Christ, you must drop your conditions. You have to give up the right to say, ‘I will obey you if . . . I will do this if . . .’ As soon as you say, ‘I will obey you if,’ that is not obedience at all. You are saying: ‘You are my adviser, not my Lord. I will be happy to take your recommendations. And I might even do some of them.’ No. If you want Jesus with you, you have to give up the right to self-determination. Self-denial is an act of rebellion against our late-modern culture of self-assertion. But that is what we are called to. Nothing less.”
― Tim Keller

“Anything you love more than God (even good a good thing like a spouse or child or social cause) is a false god. Because we love them too much, we are wracked with uncontrollable fears and anger when they are threatened and inconsolable despair when we lose them. Until you can identify your idols you cannot understand yourself. Until you turn from them you can't know and walk with God.”
― Tim Keller

“If you were a hundred times worse than you are, your sins would be no match for his mercy”
― Tim Keller

“inviting and listening to criticism is an irreplaceable component of wisdom”
― Tim Keller

“The sins of my tongue are so many! Forgive me for talking too much (because of pride), for talking too little (because of fear), for not telling the truth (because of pride and fear), for words that are harsh and cutting, for hurting others’ reputation through gossip”
― Tim Keller

“The most powerful leaders are those whom people trust so much that they want to follow them.”
― Tim Keller

“If someone is criticizing you and the criticism is mostly mistaken, identify the 20% of the indictment that is fair. Without excuse be willing to take it to heart. The strongest Christians are the ones most willing to repent.”
― Tim Keller