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121 " Honor isn’t passive, it’s active. We honor our wives by demonstrating our esteem and respect: complimenting them in public; affirming their gifts, abilities, and accomplishments; and declaring our appreciation for all they do. Honor not expressed is not honor.”2 "
― Gary L. Thomas , Sacred Marriage: What If God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy?
122 " One of the most powerful antidotes to addiction is participating in different activities, lifting the addicts out of themselves and into positive, constructive acts of creation. "
― Gary L. Thomas , Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul's Path to God
123 " Your tests don’t have to define you. Your compatibility doesn’t have to be a ceiling over which your relationship can never rise. Your past hurts don’t have to constitute the first steps in a journey toward divorce court. We worship, serve, and are empowered by a supernatural God who can lift us above our scientific limitations and create something special out of something very ordinary. These tests don’t account for the power of a magnificent obsession. "
― Gary L. Thomas , A Lifelong Love: What If Marriage Is about More Than Just Staying Together?
124 " Giving respect to others brings light and life into our lives. It leads us in the end to respect the God who created all of us and shapes us as he sees fit. It is an essential discipline, and marriage provides daily opportunities to grow in this area. "
125 " Healthy Christians create. It is the nature of our God to create. He’s introduced in Genesis 1 as the Creator of everything. One of the last images given to us in the book of Revelation is God creating the new heaven and the new earth. The Bible is literally framed around the act of God creating. "
126 " In the study of Christian spirituality, real contemplation is actually an experience with a beginning and an end that Christians pass through. Contemplation is not generally considered a life-state that one exists in, so I’m adapting the word somewhat when I use it as a label for a spiritual temperament. "
127 " The person who understands the evil in his own heart is the only person who is useful, fruitful, and solid in his beliefs and obedience. Others only delude themselves and thus upset families, churches, and all other relationships. In their self-pride and judgment of others, they show great inconsistency.”3 I AM TOLD OVER AND OVER IN SCRIPTURE THAT MY DUTY AS A CHRISTIAN IS TO BECOME MORE AND MORE LIKE JESUS CHRIST. "
128 " MARRIAGE HELPS US TO DEVELOP THE CHARACTER OF GOD HIMSELF AS WE STICK WITH OUR SPOUSES THROUGH GOOD TIMES AND BAD. "
129 " A therapist friend of mine has worked with a number of different women who were at one point in their lives centerfolds for popular men’s magazines. These women often had difficulty achieving sexual satisfaction. Though they seemed experienced in sexuality per se, they had almost no understanding of God-ordained sexual intimacy within marriage. As a result, there was a lot of spiritual and psychological healing that had to be accomplished in order for them to enter into a mutually satisfying relationship. "
― Gary L. Thomas , The Sacred Search: What If It's Not about Who You Marry, But Why?
130 " What’s so fascinating about all of this is that what we need to develop to enjoy an intimate marriage — commitment, tenacity, perseverance — is exactly what Scripture says we need to develop as faithful servants of God. This isn’t a coincidence. It makes sense that God would design the fundamental human relationship — that between a husband and wife — as a relationship that complements our spiritual walk. "
131 " There are certain people who drain us, demean us, and distract us from other healthy relationships. Long after they’re gone, we’re still fighting with them in our minds and trying to get them out of our hearts. They keep us awake. They steal our joy. They demolish our peace. They make us (if we’re honest with ourselves) weaker spiritually. They even invade times of worship and pervert them into seasons of fretting. "
― Gary L. Thomas , When to Walk Away: Finding Freedom from Toxic People
132 " The desire for ease, comfort, and stress-free living is an indirect desire to remain an “unseasoned,” immature Christian. "
133 " anger” (Romans 2:7 – 8, emphasis added). Righteousness — true holiness — is seen over time in our persistence. It is relatively easy to flirt with righteousness — being occasionally courteous to other drivers (if you happen to be in a good mood), helping someone in need by opening the door for them (if you have time), throwing a few extra bucks into the offering plate (as long as you won’t miss them). But this behavior is, in reality, superficial righteousness. The righteousness God seeks is a persistent righteousness, a commitment to continue making the right decision even when, perhaps hourly, you feel pulled in the opposite direction. Holiness is far more than an inclination toward occasional acts of kindness and charity; it is a commitment to persistently surrender to God. "
134 " Incarnational spirituality — the living, reigning, and ascended Jesus living through us and transforming us into different people — does not exist to uphold a few rules but rather speaks of a process that creates an entirely new person who sees with new eyes, feels with a new heart, hears with renewed ears, and lives with a new passion. It is, I believe, the only life worth living. "
― Gary L. Thomas , The Beautiful Fight: Surrendering to the Transforming Presence of God Every Day of Your Life
135 " You are imitating Jesus Christ and taking on the nature of a servant, which is your calling as a Christian. "
136 " Thankfully, you’re not in this alone. If you can first accept God’s plan for marriage, then you can receive God’s help to make the marriage work. God wants to help you and your husband build a family that honors him; his help is more than sufficient for your needs: “[Christ] is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you” (2 Corinthians 13:3). My wife and I have the same goal for our home that Paul has for the church: “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). How do we become such a dwelling? I need to faithfully discharge the duties of a husband, while my wife needs to faithfully fulfill the duties of a wife. We intend to witness to the beauty of God’s life and God’s church in our own house and neighborhood. "
― Gary L. Thomas , Sacred Influence: How God Uses Wives to Shape the Souls of Their Husbands
137 " The issue isn’t what makes me or Lisa happy; the issue is what makes God happy. We don’t direct our lives by what makes us comfortable; we try to order our lives by what brings the maximum glory to God and by what will fulfill our call to proclaim the message of God’s reconciliation. This has given us a joy that far surpasses any temporary happiness. Both of us have to regularly throw ourselves before God to ful-fill his calling in our lives. In the twenty-plus years we have been living this out as husband and wife, we have found that God is more than able. And we have discovered the truth of Ephesians 3:20 – 21: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” I challenge you: if you really want to move your man, begin by praying this prayer: “Lord, how can I help my husband today? "
138 " God is radically for people. He wants everyone to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). As his followers, we also must be for everyone, even if we oppose what they’re doing. If we must live and work with toxic people, our call is to make sure their toxicity doesn’t become ours. We don’t treat them as they treat us. We don’t offer evil in exchange for evil. We love. We serve. We guard our hearts so that we are not poisoned by their bad example. "
139 " BUILDING A SACRED HISTORY TOGETHER TEACHES US TO BE PERSISTENT IN DOING GOOD, EVEN WHEN WE WANT TO DO SOMETHING ELSE. "
140 " Would I rather live a life of comfort and remain immature in Christ, or am I willing to be seasoned with suffering if by doing so I am conformed to the image of Christ? "