39 Quotes by Larry Crabb

If we look for ways to get rid of necessary pain, we’ll be disillusioned or misled. For people who define real change as the elimination of inevitable struggle, the final chapters will be terribly disappointing.

God is always working to make His children aware of a dream that remains alive beneath the rubble of every shattered dream, a new dream that when realized will release a new song, sung with tears, till God wipes them away and we sing with nothing but joy in our hearts.

When hints of sadness creep into our soul, we must not flee into happy or distracting thoughts. Pondering the sadness until it becomes overwhelming can lead us to deep change in the direction of our being from self-preservation to grateful worship.

Change from the inside out involves a steadfast gaze upon our Lord that’s life changing because it reflects a deep turning from a commitment to self-sufficiency. Without repentance, a look at Christ provides only the illusion of comfort.

The degree to which we openly express our feelings should be governed, not by fear of reprisal, but by our commitment to loving others.

We were designed to love and when we do, something good develops inside. We feel clean, rich, whole. Even better, we become less concerned with how we feel and more concerned with the lives of others.

The more clearly we recognize how deep our commitment to self-protection operates in our relational style and the more courageously we face the ugliness of protecting ourselves rather than loving others, the more we’ll shift our direction.

We can’t always make life work. But we can always draw near to God. There is a different way to approach our problems. There is a NEW WAY to live.

The real power in helping somebody to be transformed is not to do something to them but to join with them.