68 Quotes by J. D. Greear

Looking back, I see now that I’ve come to know God more in the pastures, and wildernesses, and white spaces, and valleys than I have on the mountaintops.

When something becomes so important to you that it drives your behavior and commands your emotions, you are worshipping it.

I do enough public speaking that I rarely get nervous in front of crowds anymore, but backstage before the event, I was a nervous wreck. I mean, really nervous – like ‘Joel Osteen about to address The Gospel Coalition’ kind of nervous.

Being able to articulate the gospel with accuracy is one thing; having its truth captivate your soul is quite another.

A church is not a group of people gathered around a leader, but a leadership factory.

But this kind of motivation never lasts. Guilt produces a dramatic, knee-jerk reaction, but the human spirit has mechanisms for getting beyond guilt. We assuage it by comparing ourselves positively with others. We rationalize our indulgences. We numb ourselves to others’ pain. “Smacking” us with guilt never produces sustained generosity.

Things like radical generosity and audacious faith are not produced when we focus on them, but when we focus on the gospel.

When we realize how great a debt we owe to God, we become willing servants, eager to be poured out for God and His Kingdom.

Often the strongest evidence of my growth in grace is my growth in the knowledge of my need for grace.