The Genius of Jesus Quotes

“I have always been convinced that telling people what to do makes them weaker. I feel the same way about giving people answers rather than guiding them with questions. Answers are like an aqueduct designed to carry your thoughts to a particular destination. The best questions function like a well. The right questions dig deeper and deeper into our own assumptions, values, and motives.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“But the genius of Jesus is that he makes the profound painfully obvious. With each of his encounters, he made the right thing to do so clear: do the good that is right in front of you. It may seem simple, but really, it’s a stroke of genius.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“What are you good at, and which of those things that you’re good at would allow you to do the most good in the world? Whatever the answer is to those questions—that’s the good you must do. Being right is all about you. Doing good is about others. When the right is at war with the good—always choose the good.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“Legalism is one of the lowest forms of thinking exactly for that reason: it doesn’t require thought. Dogmatism and fundamentalism develop when we adhere to principles as incontrovertibly true, without considering conflicting evidence or the opinions of others. Ironically, both religious fundamentalism and socialist liberalism are extreme expressions of dogmatic belief systems.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“The most direct application of these gospel stories is that you must never allow your religion to keep you from doing good. Religion creates structures that exist to minimize the wrong we do. (Or, to use a more familiar term, religion exists to keep us from sinning.)”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“The moment you must work for grace, it is, by definition, no longer grace. It was this very kind of self-righteousness that Jesus came to confront. In a stroke of genius, Jesus came to us to ensure the free flow of grace to anyone who would ask for it.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“He elevated the value and power of kindness and compassion. He integrated holiness with humanitarianism, merging the first commandment with the second. Jesus exposed the lie of loving God without loving people. He established a new ethic for leadership: that to lead is to become the servant of all, that power should be used not to control but to create.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“Whatever power you may feel your oppressors have over you, they are powerless when it comes to your character. Only you can choose who you are and who you will become. You can step into a freedom they are incapable of understanding, and stand in your power in such a way that they are powerless to stop you.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“Their use of power reveals who they are, and your response to power will reveal who you are.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“Jesus did not replace power with weakness. He showed us a different kind of power altogether. He reframed power as servanthood.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“A world where we never lose sight of others, because they are now a part of us.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“have been troubled by how many people who profess faith in Jesus have seemed indifferent to the reality of racism—not only in our country, but in the church.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“You may not be able to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, but perhaps you can carry the weight of someone’s burden long enough for them to regain their strength.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“Perhaps the empathy of Jesus can be best summarized in his invitation, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” But this is more than an invitation to be understood and loved by God; it is an invitation to understand and love like God. It is an invitation to become a healer of humanity’s deepest wounds.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“Love is often seen as primarily an emotion, a soft sentiment that can’t match other forms of strength. I hope to convince you that the most profound and powerful expression of love is empathy, and that empathy is the highest form of intelligence.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“The deep things of God are never academic; they are always intimate. The deep things of God can only be discovered by love. They can only be known by love. We all want the mind of God, but what we need is the heart of God.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“Compassion moves you to embrace responsibility, accept challenges, make sacrifices, and take action to serve the good of others. When you see a human problem without compassion, you ignore it. When you see through the eyes of compassion, you are moved to action. Compassion makes you a force for good. Compassion empowers you to live your life with passion.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“seems that God has fought over and over again to reestablish us in his love, though we keep replacing his intention with religions built on guilt and shame, judgment and condemnation. God was always a God of love.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“By Jesus’s time, God had been reduced to a series of commands, rules, and rituals. While the laws of God remained, the love of God had long been lost and forgotten.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“Empathy doesn’t mean always having to say what you’re thinking, or making sure people understand your feelings every waking moment of your life. Empathy is driven not by a need to be understood, but by the power of understanding. Empathy is about recognizing what others need in that moment, and having both the wisdom and courage to bring it.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“What we will discover through the genius of Jesus is that for us to think most deeply, we must allow ourselves to feel most deeply. And this starts by recognizing the genius it takes to care deeply and care well for others.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“If Jesus reveals one great insight about genius, it is that empathy is the highest form of intelligence.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“Have you embraced your identity? Do you know who you are? Have you discovered your intention? Do you know why you’ve been put on this earth? Are you endlessly inquisitive? Are you asking the right questions? Are you expanding the parameters of your intuition? Are you open to the unknown? Is your essence grounded in intimacy with God? Do you know the God who loves you?”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“Even if Jesus is only an idea, that idea changes the way humans approach life. Is there any other idea that has ever brought that kind of change?”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“Jesus saw a new way to be human, a way to live each moment fully present and fully alive. Imagine if your every choice and every action only and always created the good and the beautiful and the true. The genius of Jesus is that he teaches us how to become human again.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“I am convinced that when we experience expressions of genius, it elevates our own personal capacity. Once you see it done, you know it’s possible. When one human accomplishes the extraordinary, it becomes a measure for all who follow them.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“I could live with someone being faster, or stronger, or smarter than me. I just didn’t want to be blind to the endless possibilities of the unknown.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“I hoped there was something extraordinary within me, within all of us, that could transform us to our most heroic selves.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything

“When you are forced to serve, let serving be your force. Always do more than what is required. Always do more than what is expected. There is no law that is prepared to stop a person who is determined to do more good than expected. Can you imagine the face of that soldier when he told the subject he was free to go, and the subject instead insisted on carrying the pack a second mile? Can you feel the power in that moment? I can see it now: “No, I’m good. I’m not tired and your horse is clearly not doing well. I cannot fault you for asking for my help. The strength of the Hebrews is well known, if not renowned, across the world.”
― Erwin Raphael McManus, The Genius of Jesus: The Man Who Changed Everything