I stay away from churches in which I feel like I have to pretend I'm a better person than I am. That sort of thing moves my faith backwards. Donald Miller More Quotes by Donald Miller More Quotes From Donald Miller Let's show up to life. Let's prove how beautiful it can really be. Let's face the conflict, redeem it, conquer it, and allow it to mold our Donald Miller beautiful character world If I have a hope, it's that God sat over the dark nothing and wrote you and me, specifically, into the story and put us in with the sunset and the rainstorm as though to say, “Enjoy your place in my story. The beauty of it means you matter, and you can create within it even as I have created you.” Donald Miller sunset dark mean Sometimes I wish I could go back in time, sit down with myself and explain that things were going to be okay, that everybody loses ground sometimes and it doesn’t mean anything. It’s the way life works. This is hard to understand in the moment. You get to thinking about the girl who rejected you, the job you got fired from, the test you failed, and you lose sight of the big picture — the fact that life has a beautiful way of remaking itself every few weeks. Donald Miller girl beautiful jobs What I believe is not what I say I believe; what I believe is what I do. Donald Miller i-believe action believe I have sometimes wondered if the greatest desire of man is to be known and loved anyway. Donald Miller desire sometimes men The more I try to impress people, the more I separate myself from them. Vulnerability attracts love. Donald Miller impress trying people The most often repeated commandment in the Bible is 'Do not fear.' It's in there over two hundred times. That means a couple of things, if you think about it. It means we are going to be afraid, and it means we shouldn't let fear boss us around. Before I realized we were supposed to fight fear, I thought of fear as a subtle suggestion in our subconscious designed to keep us safe, or more important, keep us from getting humiliated. And I guess it serves that purpose. But fear isn't only a guide to keep us safe; it's also a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life. Donald Miller couple monday mean And so I have come to understand that strength, inner strength, comes from receiving love as much as it comes from giving it. Donald Miller receiving-love inner-strength giving You can't tell a good story without conflict - the story can't be beautiful or meaningful. We're taught to run from conflict, and it's robbing us of some really good stories. Donald Miller running beautiful meaningful What I’m saying is I think life is staggering and we’re just used to it. We all are like spoiled children no longer impressed with the gifts we’re given—it’s just another sunset, just another rainstorm moving in over the mountain, just another child being born, just another funeral. Donald Miller sunset children moving The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: life is a story about me. Donald Miller life-is stories lying All the trees are losing their leaves, and not one of them is worried. Donald Miller worried losing tree And once you live a good story, you get a taste for a kind of meaning in life, and you can't go back to being normal; you can't go back to meaningless scenes stitched together by the forgettable thread of wasted time. Donald Miller taste stories together At the time, I didn't know what forgiveness meant. I wouldn't really know what forgiveness meant for another year, until my pastor, Rick McKinley, happened to spell it out in a sermon. He said that when you forgive, you bear the burden somebody has given you without holding them accountable. Donald Miller mckinley forgiving years Fear isn’t only a guide to keep us safe; it’s also a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life … the great stories go to those who don’t give in to fear. Donald Miller safe stories giving If what you are doing is important, you will encounter resistance. If what you are doing isn't important it will be easy. Donald Miller resistance encounters important How disappointing would it be get to heaven and find out God created life to be enjoyed while all we did was worry? Donald Miller disappointing worry heaven To be in a relationship with God is to be loved purely and furiously. And a person who thinks himself unlovable cannot be in a relationship with God because he can't accept who God is; a Being that is love. We learn that we are lovable or unlovable from other people. That is why God tells us so many times to love each other. Donald Miller who-god-is people thinking I loved the fact that it wasn't my responsibility to change somebody, that it was God's, that my part was just to communicate love and approval. Donald Miller responsibility approval facts No, life cannot be understood flat on a page. It has to be lived; a person has to get out of his head, has to fall in love, has to memorize poems, has to jump off bridges into rivers, has to stand in an empty desert and whisper sonnets under his breath... We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?" -Donald Miller,Through Painted Deserts Donald Miller falling-in-love bridges rivers
