The Good and Beautiful God Quotes

“The most important aspects of our lives cannot be rushed. We cannot love, think, eat, laugh, or pray in a hurry...When we are in a hurry--which comes from overextension--we find ourselves unable to live with awareness and kindness.”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“spiritual life is not a life of laws and precepts but a life of participation, affection and love, a life mingled and mixing with God.”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“Christ in me” means Christ bearing me along from within, Christ the motive power that carries me on, Christ giving my whole life a wonderful poise and lift, and turning every burden into wings . . . not as something you have to bear but as something by which you are borne.”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“Wanting to communicate the paradox of how we minister to others through our brokenness, he took a cardboard box and asked his students to “beat it up.” They punctured holes in the box, kicked it around and tore pieces off of it. Then he placed the box on a table in front of them all. Underneath the box was a light. He dimmed the house lights, and then turned on the light inside the box. He didn’t need to say any more. They all understood. The light of Jesus shines clearly through our broken places.”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“Abba is best translated “Dear Father.” It is a term of intimacy, but it also contains a sense of obedience.”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“Satan does not always appear as a red devil, a ghastly monster or the object of sexual desire. Sometimes he simply inserts a false narrative (achievement equals value) into our minds. Once that narrative gets firmly planted, we are headed toward destruction without realizing it.”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“The parable is not so much about a sinner getting saved as it is about a God who loves even those who sin against him.”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“It is . . . not that there is first of all human fatherhood and then a so-called divine fatherhood, but just the reverse; true and proper fatherhood resides in God and from this fatherhood what we know as fatherhood among us men is derived.”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“Narrative is “the central function . . . of the human mind.” We turn everything into a story in order to make sense of life.”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“We change not by mustering up willpower but by changing the way we think, which will also involve changing our actions and our social environment. We change indirectly. We do what we can in order to enable us to do what we can’t do directly. We change by the process of indirection.”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“We cannot change simply by saying, “I want to change.” We have to examine what we think (our narratives) and how we practice (the spiritual disciplines) and who we are interacting with (our social context). If we change those things—and we can—then change will come naturally to us.”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“Jesus’ Father is nearby, holy, powerful, caring, forgiving and our protector. These attributes provide strong images of who God is and what fatherhood means. And we now have a way to define the Father’s goodness. We also have a way to measure what true parenthood ought to be. A good parent, be it a father or mother, ought to possess these six characteristics. Of the six aspects of the nature of God the Father (present, pure, powerful, provides, pardons, protects) as seen in the Lord’s Prayer, which do you most need to see and understand about God? As a father, I try hard, but often fail, to reflect each of those six characteristics. I am near to my children, but sometimes I am distant, preferring to read the newspaper than play with them. And my work sometimes takes me far away for weeks at a time. I also try hard to be good and pure, but I fail miserably at times, snapping at them for minor infractions and being petty and selfish. I try to be strong for my kids, but sometimes I am scared and confused, just as they are. I do a decent job of providing for them, but sometimes I provide too much and spoil them. I forgive them, but I catch myself bringing up their past mistakes. And I try to protect them, but I am woefully aware that I cannot protect them from all enemies that lurk about. My children, my wife and most of my friends would rate me as a decent father. Every Father’s Day both of my children write me cards and say, “You are the best dad ever.” But I am aware of my deficiencies and pray that my children do not suffer because of them. My point here is that”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“To trust someone is to believe that he or she has your best interests in mind, that the person will protect you from harm and is reliable.”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“We like control. This [punishing-blessing god] narrative allows us to live in the illusion that we can control our world, which is very appealing in our chaotic existence. This, though, is a form of superstition”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“God gives blessings to all without regard to their behavior. Terrible things happen to wonderful people. Wonderful things happen to awful people. We cannot look around the world we live in and build a case that sinners are punished and righteous people are blessed. Reality simply does not bear this out.”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“Rather we must seek out9 the good things peculiar to the good, and give the widest berth to the evils peculiar to evil men.”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“is true. We change not by mustering up willpower but by changing the way we think, which will also involve changing our actions and our social environment. We change indirectly. We do what we can”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“The spiritual disciplines are wisdom, not righteousness. But they are wise practices that train and transform our hearts”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows

“the number one enemy in the spiritual life: hurry sickness. Why is eliminating hurry from our lives so crucial? When we eliminate hurry we become present, or more specifically, present to the present moment in all of its glory. We become aware of our surroundings. We see colors and smell smells; we hear hushed sounds and can actually feel the wind in our faces. In short, we “show up” and experience the fullness of life. And that includes, not least of all, being present to God. If I am to live well as a Christian, I need to be constantly connected”
― James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows