Surfing for God Quotes

“The pursuit of purity is not about the suppression of lust, but about the reorientation of one’s life to a larger goal. —DIETRICH BONHOEFFER”
― Michael John Cusick, Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle

“Though this list is not exhaustive, it offers a straightforward way for you to begin to put words to what lies below the surface of your life: • Attention—I long for people to like me. I long for your embrace. • Affection—I long to be enjoyed. I long to be delighted in. I long for you to take pleasure in who I am. • Affirmation—I long to know I have what it takes. I long for your blessing. • Acceptance—I long to belong. I long to be desired. • Satisfaction—I long for fullness. I long for well-being. • Significance—I long for impact. I long for meaning. I long to be powerful. • Security—I long to know I will be okay.”
― Michael John Cusick, Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle

“His words reminded me of George Carlin’s famous line: “Just ’cause you got the monkey off your back doesn’t mean the circus has left town.”
― Michael John Cusick, Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle

“¿Qué palabras pondrías en la burbuja? Ponle voz a la turbulencia y la agitación. ¿Qué podría estar diciéndote tu alma si la escuchas?”
― Michael John Cusick, El sexo, mis deseos y mi Dios: Cómo descubir el deseo divino debajo de la lucha sexual

“C. S. Lewis described every man’s struggle with vulnerability this way: To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to be sure of keeping your heart intact you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully around with hobbies and little luxuries, avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safely in the casket of your selfishness. And in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will not change, it will not be broken. It will become unbreakable, impenetrable and irredeemable. The only place outside of heaven where you can be perfectly safe from the dangers of love is hell.”
― Michael John Cusick, Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle

“If we are ever going to learn to freely delight in God, we must first learn to be delighted in.”
― Michael John Cusick, Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle

“But we cannot escape the fact that in the midst of painful emotions, major decisions, and unthinkable circumstances, even Jesus needed to make space for”
― Michael John Cusick, Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle

“If you want to identify what your core beliefs are, just look at your brokenness. What are your wounds and weaknesses? They”
― Michael John Cusick, Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle

“guilt says, “I have done wrong,” shame says, “I am wrong.”
― Michael John Cusick, Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle

“An idol,” wrote Tim Keller, “is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give you.”
― Michael John Cusick, Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle

“Addictions are strategies we use to keep the truth from ourselves by blinding us from seeing what’s true about us.”
― Michael John Cusick, Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle