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Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough QUOTES

Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough QUOTES

1 " Thankfulness is the quickest path to joy. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

2 " Trying to be good enough to earn heaven is like trying to jump to Hawaii from the coast of California. Everyone looks like an idiot, some drown, some get three feet, some get ten feet, but no one even gets close to Hawaii. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

3 " The biggest difference between between religious people and gospel-loving people is that religious people see certain people as the enemies, when Jesus-followers see sin as the enemy. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

4 " My generation is the most fatherless and insecure generation that's ever lived, and we are willing to sacrifice everything if we just can be told we are loved.

If only we knew just how loved we really are. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

5 " Our job as Christians is to stick so close to Jesus that when people are around us, they sense him. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

6 " When I was trying to earn Jesus by being good, I missed the real Jesus who wants us to love him and serve him not for what he gives but for who he is—dangerous, unpredictable, radical, and amazing. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

7 " We refuse to turn off our computers, turn off our phone, log off Facebook, and just sit in silence, because in those moments we might actually have to face up to who we really are. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

8 " We refuse to turn off our computers, turn off our phones, log off Facebook, and just sit in silence, because in those moments we might actually have to face up to who we really are. We fear silence like it's an invisible monster, gnawing at us, ripping us open, and showing us our dissatisfaction. Silence is terrifying. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

9 " The more I read, the more I felt the Bible looked a lot more like the movie 300 than the movie Pleasantville. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

10 " The Bible isn't a rule book. It's a love letter. I'm not an employee. I'm a child. It's not about my performance. It's about Jesus' performance for me. Grace isn't there for some future me but for the real me. The me who struggled. The me who was messy. ..... He loves me in my mess; he was not waiting until I cleaned myself up. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

11 " Without the rain there is no beauty in the summer. Rain gives depth, it gives beauty, and it gives roots. If a plant is only exposed to sun and no rain, it becomes dry, flimsy, and dead. Too many times we curse the rain in our lives-suffering, trials, hardships-but the truth is without rain nothing grows. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

12 " One of my favorite things about following Jesus is I get to drop the act, admit I'm not good enough, walk in freedom-and that's good news. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

13 " I was just lying there, swimming in my own shame and guilt, when this still small voice whispered into the depths of my soul: I love you. I desire you. I delight in you. I saw you were going to that before I went to the cross, and I still went. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

14 " The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their mouths and walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

15 " So what do we do then? What do you do when the only thing you want to do is yell at God and tell him how awful it is? You do exactly that. Cry. Yell. Scream. Be honest. Be transparent. And be vulnerable. For the first nineteen years of my life, I wanted God to give me an answer, but now I've found it is better when I get him. An answer isn't going to bring that spouse back. An answer won't ease that pain. But what will is God's Grace in the depths of our souls. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

16 " The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep lowing concern. Beautiful people do not just happen. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

17 " How stupid would it look if when someone broke a hand, the foot started criticizing the hand? That what we look like when Christians begin to criticize the church. One part of the body should lead itself to the healing process of another hurting member. That's love. That's the gospel. And that is Jesus. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

18 " In a weird way it seems the only qualification for us to be justified is to be ungodly. It's like God is saying the only way to qualify is to admit you don't qualify. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

19 " I realized we had created a Jesus who's safe for the whole family. But if we were honest, we'd ask, how is a homeless dude who was murdered on a cross for saying he was God safe for the whole family? Not to mention that Paul told us if we choose to follow his example as a follower of Jesus, we will be treated the way that he was. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough

20 " Trying to live without community is like trying to live without oxygen. We weren't created to do it. "

― Jefferson Bethke , Jesus > Religion: Why He Is So Much Better Than Trying Harder, Doing More, and Being Good Enough