Charles R. Swindoll is a well-known Christian pastor, author, and radio preacher. Born in 1934, he founded the radio ministry, Insight for Living, which currently airs on more than 2,000 stations around the world. He is presently the senior pastor at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas. Swindoll, a past president of Dallas Theological Seminary, is the author of more than 70 books and is considered one of the most influential preachers in America over the last 50 years.
Swindoll, known for his gentle wit and profound insights into the Word of God, has down through the years been a great source of encouragement to me. Listed below are some of his more encouraging quotes.1
“Encouragement is awesome. Think about it. It has the capacity to lift a man’s or a woman’s shoulders. To breathe fresh air into the fading embers of a smoldering dream. To actually change the course of another human being’s day, week, or life.”
“Honesty has a beautiful and refreshing simplicity about it. No ulterior motives. No hidden meanings. An absence of hypocrisy, duplicity, political games, and verbal superficiality. As honesty and real integrity characterize our lives, there will be no need to manipulate others.”
“Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hopes. When my attitudes are right, there is no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.”
“Walk by faith! Stop the plague of worry. Relax! Learn to say, “Lord, this is Your battle.””
“Prayer is an investment. The time you dedicate to prayer isn’t lost; it will return dividends far greater than what a few moments spent on a task ever could. If we fail to cultivate this discipline, prayer winds up being our last resort rather than our first response.”
“God is a specialist at making something useful and beautiful out of something broken and confused.”
“Choose to view life through God’s eyes. This will not be easy because it doesn’t come naturally to us. We cannot do this on our own. We have to allow God to elevate our vantage point. Start by reading His Word, the Bible…Pray and ask God to transform your thinking. Let Him do what you cannot. Ask Him to give you an eternal, divine perspective.”
“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”
“Nothing speaks louder or more powerfully than a life of integrity.”
“When God is involved, anything can happen. Be open. Stay that way. God has a beautiful way of bringing good vibrations out of broken chords.”
“Love has been called the most effective motivational force in all the world. When love is at work in us, it is remarkable how giving and forgiving, understanding and tolerant we can be.”
“God’s heavenly plan doesn’t always make earthly sense.”
“Your call will become clear as your mind is transformed by the reading of Scripture and the internal work of God’s Spirit. The Lord never hides His will from us. In time, as you obey the call first to follow, your destiny will unfold before you. The difficulty will lie in keeping other concerns from diverting your attention.”
“Another problem with worry is that it makes you forget your worth. Worry makes you feel worthless, forgotten, and unimportant.”
“God doesn’t work on our timetable. He has a plan that He will execute perfectly and for the highest, greatest good of all, and for His ultimate glory.”
“Make a plan now to keep a daily appointment with God. The enemy is going to tell you to set it aside, but you must carve out the time. If you’re too busy to meet with the Lord, friend, then you are simply too busy.”
“Authentic men aren’t afraid to show affection, release their feelings, hug their children, cry when they’re sad, admit it when they’re wrong, and ask for help when they need it.”
“Strength comes from choosing to fully trust, pray, and praise. Our circumstances may not change, but in the process we change.”
“Don’t seek more days in your life but more life in your days.”
“People who inspire others are those who see invisible bridges at the end of dead-end streets.”
“It’s a delightful thing to receive a good word just at your time of need. Encourage someone today.”
“[God] is able to take your life, with all of the heartache, all of the pain, all of the regret, all of the missed opportunities, and use you for His glory.”
“Let`s choose each day and every day to keep an attitude of faith and joy and belief and compassion.”
“To be used of God. Is there anything more encouraging, more fulfilling? Perhaps not, but there is something more basic: to meet with God. To linger in His presence, to shut out the noise of the city and, in quietness, give Him the praise He deserves. Before we engage ourselves in His work, let’s meet Him in His Word… in prayer… in worship.”
“There can be no more reliable authority on earth than God’s Word, the Bible. This timeless, trustworthy source of truth holds the key that unlocks life’s mysteries. It alone provides us with the shelter we need in times of storm.”
“Jesus has prepared the way and has made following our destiny possible, whereas we are helpless by ourselves. We can find and fulfill our purpose by responding to the clear, simple call of Jesus Christ: “Follow Me.” He is the doorway to fulfilling our destiny, where our divine design and God-ordained purpose live in perfect harmony.”
“Christlikeness is a journey, not a destination. The joy is in the journey.”
“The happiest people I know are the ones who have learned how to hold everything loosely and have given the worrisome, stress-filled, fearful details of their lives into God’s keeping.”
“Joy springs from a life lived with eternity’s values in view.”
“We aren’t just thrown on this earth like dice tossed across a table. We are lovingly placed here for a purpose.”
“Anything under God’s control is never out of control.”
1 All of these quotes are from the following two websites:
TOP 25 QUOTES BY CHARLES R. SWINDOLL (of 353) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)