Live in Grace, Walk in Love: A 365-Day Journey

by Bob Goff

You don’t have to take all the steps—just the next one.

Since when did we decide as a community of faith that having the same beliefs and opinions was a prerequisite for loving, accepting, and welcoming someone? It’s not enough to just tolerate or be polite to people we disagree with and for them to merely do this with us. We need to love each other without an agenda. Do it any other way and we signal to each other that others need to be like us to be liked by us. The cost of acceptance is way too high if it costs people who God made them to be.

God is far more like the proud parent who celebrates the steps rather than one who fixates on the stumbles. God delights in our every move, every brave step, no matter how small.

We often use other people’s metrics to define what was a success and what was a failure.

faith isn’t figuring out what we’re able to do. It’s deciding what we’re going to do even when we think we can’t.

we grow where we are loved, not where we are merely informed.

Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

The love you leave behind will be your legacy.

We’ll always disagree with some people, but we’ll know we’re growing when we’re more concerned about the other person than the big disagreement.

You’ll know you’re making progress when your love for people overshadows your opinions about them.

Let love be louder than your opinions.

Love difficult people. Give them the grace you want people to offer you when you stall on the tarmac.

Going all in on love isn’t like buying a house. We can’t make a deal and get away with giving less. Love’s asking price is everything, and there’s no negotiation.

think about it: Jesus never said, “Study Me.” He said, “Follow Me.”

Yes!!!! Walk the walk. So many Christians talk about what people shouldn’t do. This is fantastic...a bible doing group!!

No book is a chapter, and no chapter tells the whole story. The same is true in our lives: no mistake defines who we are. God sees our mistakes in light of the grace that will turn them into stories of redemption. We’re not in the first chapter, and most of us aren’t in the last one. We’re somewhere in the middle.

Hope makes our lives page-turners.

be picky about the words we say. They have the power to shape our lives and the lives of the people around us.

Equally important, be careful about the words you cling to.

Most of the things we worry about don’t actually happen. That’s why Jesus told us not to worry about the future. He said to look at the flowers, how they’re clothed with outfits kings couldn’t recreate

Jesus said we won’t add anything to our lives by worrying; we’ll just miss seeing Him at work. Rather than live our lives distracted, we’re better off trusting that God will come through once again. Instead of hiding under the table, He wants us to grab a front-row seat so we won’t miss the action.

If we’re going to spend time thinking about the future, we might as well spend it hoping instead of worrying.

He’ll just wait with us while we’re catching our breath. Don’t give up. I know it’s hard. Keep going. When you feel like giving up, remember something breathtaking is only a few steps ahead.

Just remember that whoever you surround yourself with, their reflection will work its way into you, and vice versa. Reflect selfless love to others and you will have a lasting impact in their lives. They’ll always be seeking your waters.

He said hope is the fuel that keeps the fire in our hearts burning.

It’s not easy to pay attention to math lessons when you’ve got more important things to do, like make friends and take care of the lizard you brought to school in your pocket.

Somewhere along the way I realized failure isn’t a part of life; it’s actually much of life. We fail to be patient with people we love. We fail to find the right words to give to someone in their moment of need. Sometimes we fail at fulfilling commitments to people we love, in big ways and small.

The problems come when fear misfires. If you let it go unchecked, fear will push you into a corner and lie to you about your worth. It’ll steal your lunch money while you’re distracted. Fear tells you hope is your imagination talking and pitches cynicism as courage.

The next time you find yourself looking for a way out, look for evidence of God on the move in someone’s life around you. They’ve probably been asking God to give them a little hope, and what God is giving them is you.

Listen to who God says you are and what He believes is possible in your life. Breathe in hope and breathe out your life. Be picky about listening to the stories you or others have been telling over your life that just aren’t true. You’ll know if it’s God telling the story because it will always be one filled with hope and possibility.

We don’t need to let who we used to be decide who we’re going to be.

When we treat the shadows of our past like they’re living, breathing versions of ourselves today, we give our past too much power.

Hope can turn a crisis into a chance to grow.

It will be the people with the greatest love, not the most information, who influence change. Knowledge is important, but our ideas change—and God’s already given us His greatest idea. Love.

Jesus never saw people as interruptions. He saw them as opportunities.

Make love your routine, even when (especially when) someone reinforces the opinion that they’re difficult. We’ll know we’re growing when our love for people dwarfs our opinions about them.

where we live our lives best is usually where our passions, our purpose, and our capabilities intersect.

It’s easy to confuse a lot of activity with a purposeful life.

In what ways do you focus more on being busy than being in God’s presence?

Bright lights don’t need spotlights.

Words will never move people the way love does.

if our vision is tied to a clear purpose, we won’t be discouraged when times get tough.

Invest in things that last. If you have to choose between projects and people, pick people every time.

Go big on love and let the rest work itself out.

Anything is worth doing if it’s done with love, and nothing’s worth doing if it comes at love’s cost.

Hope is always eager to burst onto the scene every

single morning, but you need to be there to catch it.

When we love others well, we don’t have the energy to worry about what they think of us.

We’ll trade anxiety and worry for purpose and confidence. We’re being made new.

The walls our lies create keep us from knowing the people around us are over the moon about us when we blow it just as much as when we get it right.

We can spend so much time trying to provide for our families that we’re not providing for our families.