Spiritual Formation Quotes
Thoughtful quotations on being formed in Christlikeness

The quotes are ordered alphabetically by the authors' name, usually their surname. If they are known instead by their given name (often accompanied by a location) then you'll find them listed according to it. (ie: Bernard of Clairvaux is listed under B)

A - B - F - G - J - L - M - N - P - R - S - T - W - Y

A
Intentionality
Brother Andrew / Anne van der Bijl (b. 1928)

If we do not actively seek God early in the morning,
it will be very unlikely that we meet him later in the day.

Falling in Love
Pedro Arrupe (1907-1991)

Nothing is more practical than finding God,
that is, falling in love in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination,
will affect everything.
It will decide
what gets you out of bed in the morning,
what you will do with your evenings,
how you will spend your weekends,
what you read, who you know,
what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.

B
Simply Loved
David G. Benner

What a different relationship begins to develop when you realize that God is head-over-heels in love with you. God is simply giddy about you. He just can't help loving you. And he loves you deeply, recklessly and extravagantly-just as you are.
(The Gift of Being Yourself)

Action or Contemplation?
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

Action and contemplation are very close companions;
they live together in one house on equal terms. Martha is Mary's sister.

Identity and Worth
Kenneth Boa (b. 1949)

We need to review frequently the truth that our performance and our acceptance by other people has nothing to do with our dignity and value, since this is determined by God and not by the world. When we suffer rejection and indifference, the pain will be real, but it need not destroy us, since we have made the radical decision to look to God and his resources alone for our true and unchanging identity and worth. (Conformed to His Image)

F
Transformation
Richard Foster

When we despair of gaining inner transformation through human powers of will and determination, we are open to a wonderful new realization: inner righteousness is a gift from God to be graciously received. The needed change within us is God's work, not ours. The demand is for an inside job, and only God can work from the inside. We cannot attain or earn this righteousness of the kingdom of God; it is a grace that is given. (Celebration of Discipline)

G
Worshipers
Joseph Garlington (b.1939)

The Father is looking for worshipers. So if you are looking for God and you just can't seem to find him, then stop what you are doing and worship him-and he will come and find you." Worship in spirit / Worship in truth (meditations on John 4)

Broken Heart Art
Ken Gire (b.1950)

When the Father begins crafting character, a crushing must first take place. Not because he's a temperamental artist who's angry with his work, but because the raw materials for his art come from a broken heart. (The Work of His Hands)

J
Good Works
John of the Cross (1542-1591)

A Christian should always remember that the value of his good works is not based on their number and excellence, but on the love of God which prompts him to do these things.

Love Personified
Jordan of Saxony (d. 1237)

That law which is perfect because it takes away all imperfections is charity, and you will find it written with a strange beauty when you gaze at Jesus your Saviour stretched out like a sheet of parchment on the Cross, inscribed with wounds, illustrated in his own loving blood. Where else, I ask you, my dearest, is there a comparable book of love to read from?

Sufficiency
Julian of Norwich (1342-ca.1416)

O God, by your goodness give me yourself, for you are enough for me.

L
Goodness
Brother Lawrence (ca.1614–1691)

Good when He gives, supremely good;
Nor less when He denies:
Afflictions, from His sovereign hand,
Are blessings in disguise.

God's Megaphone
C.S. Lewis (ca.1898–1963)

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains:
it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

M
Necessary intentionality
Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

If you attempt to act and do for others or for the world without deepening your own self-understanding, freedom, integrity and capacity to love, you will not have anything to give others.

N
Creating Space
Henri Nouwen (1932–1996)

In the spiritual life, the word 'discipline' means 'the effort to create some space in which God can act'. Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you're not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied… to create that space in which something can happen that you hadn't planned or counted on.

P
Deep People
Don Postema

Deep people know they need:
solitude-if they are going to find out who they are;
silence-if their words are to mean anything;
contemplation-if they are to see the world as it really is;
prayer-if they are going to be conscious of God,
and if they are to 'know God and enjoy him forever.' (Space for God)

R
Too weak to hold on
Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894)

Well spoke that soldier who, asked what he would do if he became too weak to cling to Christ, answered, "Then I will pray him to cling to me."

Unanswered Question
Rachael Naomi Remen

An unanswered question is a fine traveling companion.
It sharpens your eyes for the road.

S
Growing trust
Chuck Swindoll (b. 1934)

God gives us opportunities to trust him, brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

The Word
Philip Jacob Spener (1635-1705)

The Word of God remains the seed from which all that is good in us must grow.

T
The Exchanged Life
Hudson Taylor (1832–1905)

If God should place me in serious perplexity, must He not give me much guidance? In positions of great difficulty, much grace? In circumstances of great pressure and trials, much strength? No fear that His resources will prove unequal to the emergency! And His resources are mine, for He is mine, and is with me and dwells in me. (Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret)

Fellowship with the King
Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)

If I had understood, as I do now, that in this little palace of my soul dwelt so great a King, I would not have left Him alone so often. (The Way of Perfection)

Holy Desire
A.W. Tozer (1897-1963)

Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking. (The Pursuit of God)

W
Nothing
Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB

There is nothing--no thing, no person, no experience, no thought, no joy or pain--that cannot be harvested and used for nourishment on our journey to God.

Y
Role Models
Philip Yancey (b. 1949)

Prayer allows a place for me to bring my doubts and complaints and subject them to the blinding light of a reality I cannot comprehend but can haltingly learn to trust. Prayer

The people of God are not merely to mark time, waiting for God to step in and set right all that is wrong. Rather, they are to model the new heaven and new earth, and by so doing awaken longings for what God will someday bring to pass.