223 Quotes by John Ortberg Jr.

The reason our souls hunger so is that the life we could be living so far exceeds our strangest dreams.

Going through open doors means I will have to be able to trust God with my future when the path I’m called to take does not look like the obvious one.

Sin is not just the wrong stuff we do; it’s the good we don’t do. It’s the starving children we don’t want to look at, the volunteering we avoid, the poor we don’t want to serve, and the money we don’t want to give.

Too often, people who need the cheers the most get them the least. Every day, everyone you know faces life with eternity on the line, and life has a way of beating people down. Every life needs a cheering section. Every life needs a shoulder to lean on once in a while. Every life needs a prayer to lift them up to God. Every life needs a hugger to wrap some arms around them sometimes. Every life needs to hear a voice saying, “Don’t give up.

One of the great illusions of our time is that hurrying will buy us more time.

Willpower is trying very hard not to do something you want to do very much.

The world conspires against our souls by blinding us to the depth and glory of their God-given design and tempting us to be satisfied with immediate gratification.

We are tempted to live under the illusion that somewhere out there are people who are normal.

Good habits are enormously freeing – we accomplish good things almost on autopilot. One study from Duke University found that more than 40 percent of the actions people take every day aren’t decisions, but habits. Good habits free us, but when sin becomes a habit, our souls lose their freedom.