“QUOTES FOR LIFE” (Part 1 of 3)
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if you be unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
– Joshua 24:14-15
Every once in a while, it is good to have handy a list of quotes or sayings to help guide us along the way. The Bible offers the world a great big bucket full of words to do just that and over the centuries people of faith have added on with some of their own as a way to help each generation which comes along.
So… this post and the next two I will try to put some of those good words (NOTE: the word ‘benediction’ spoken at the end of worship means just that… as ‘bene’ = GOOD and ‘diction’ = WORD) in one place to look when those moments in life force us to pause and consider what is it we believe and what is truly important.
I’ve been writing this column now for five years. I’m thankful for the privilege to do so. Faith matters. We all believe in something. Readers may want to cut out these 3 posts and keep them in their Bible or nearby when the time arises…
ON LIFE: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you… life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live…”
– Deuteronomy 30:19
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
– Ephesians 4:31-32
“Let us not therefore carry about the notions of the many but examine into the facts… Wherefore I exhort and entreat you all, disregard what this one or that one thinks about these things and inquire from the Scriptures instead.”
John Chrysostom (4th C).
ON LOVE: “Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good.”
-Psalm25:7-8
“Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”
– St. Paul / 1st Corinthians 13:4-8a
“Whoever loves God stands above all manner of fear. That person has become a stranger to all the fear of this world and placed it far from himself, and no manner of trembling comes near him.”
– St. Ephraim the Syrian
ON HOPE: “Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. Know also that wisdom is like honey for you. If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”
-Proverbs 24:13-14
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”
– Hebrews 11:1-2
“Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.”
– Augustine of Hippo
It is good that each of us has a passion for life. Life is a gift. It is good then for our lives when love rules that living… and when it doesn’t it is best for us to hold on to a hope that each of us can employ to be our best… for ourselves… our neighbors and our God. Faith matters…
The Rev. Dr. Brian K. Gigee is a long-time resident of Pearland, having pastored four churches over the last four decades in Texas and Louisiana. Read more following Brian’s blog ‘murmurings’ at https://briangigee.wordpress.com/. Send comments and/or questions to godworks247365@gmail.com.
