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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Bob Goff
Read between
July 8 - July 27, 2019
When people are flat wrong, why do I appoint myself the sheriff to straighten them out? Burning down others’ opinions doesn’t make us right. It makes us arsonists.
Sadly, whenever I make my opinions more important than the difficult people God made, I turn the wine back into water. I’m trying to resist the bait that darkness offers me every day to trade kindness for rightness.
What I’ve learned following Jesus is we only really find our identities by engaging the people we’ve been avoiding.
Loving each other is what we were meant to do and how we were made to roll.
Three words stand out to me in the Bible. They aren’t big and deep and theological words, yet that’s probably what makes them big and deep and theological in nature. Here they are: Be. Not. Afraid. God whispered, Be not afraid to Joshua when he didn’t think he was the right guy to take over for Moses; He shouted those same words to Abram before a big battle when He said He’d be his shield and great reward; and Jesus said these words confidently to a boatful of scared fishermen when He walked out to them on the water. Be. Not. Afraid. These words have exactly as much power as we give them in
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“Love one another.” What is simple often isn’t easy; what is easy often doesn’t last.
When joy is a habit, love is a reflex.
He continues to tell us through our successes and our mistakes who we are, and here’s what He wants us to know—we are His.
I know God lives everywhere, but I bet He spends a lot of time at Disney World.
God knows we’re easily confused and often wayward, and He pursues us with love anyway.
God wants me to love
What part are you going to play in building the kind of kingdom Jesus said would outlast us all?
The next time you’re tempted to boast, just say under your breath, “It’s not about me.” Say it a dozen times a day. Say it a thousand times a month. Say it when you wake up and when you go to sleep. Say it again and again: “It’s not about me. It’s not about me.” Say it when you bless a meal or do something wonderful or selfless or when you help hurting people. Make it your anthem and your prayer.
The promise of love and grace in our lives is this: Our worst day isn’t bad enough, and our best day isn’t good enough. We’re invited because we’re loved, not because we earned it.
God isn’t always leading us to the safest route forward but to the one where we’ll grow the most.
What a shame it would be if we were waiting for God to say something while He’s been waiting on us to do something.
The sad truth is, I’m often making too much racket to hear Him. He won’t try to shout over all the noise in our lives to get our attention. He speaks most clearly in the stillness desperation brings.
His biggest priority isn’t removing failure as an option but reminding me He loves me as I try.
We shouldn’t be surprised when we don’t understand what a God who says He surpasses all understanding is doing.
I still mess up more often than I want to. When I do, instead of beating myself up, wishing I were the guy who had it all figured out, I hear the gentle and kind voice of Jesus reminding me once again to stop laying sod where He’s planting seed in my life. His reason is simple: He’s more interested in making us grow than having us look finished. He wants me to realize I’m just not quite there yet.
