Quotes from John Eldredge

You can't fight a battle you don't think exists.

Deep in his heart, every man longs for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.

The Lover of our souls, the One who has pursued us down through space and time, who gave his own life to rescue us from the Kingdom of Darkness, has made it clear: He does not want to lose us. He longs for us to be with him forever.

A wound that goes unacknowledged and unwept is a wound that cannot heal.

I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. (Isa. 45:2—3)

So if you are writing a story where love is the meaning, where love is the highest and best of all, where love is the point, then you have to allow each person a choice.

A woman in her glory, a woman of beauty, is a woman who is not striving to become beautiful or worthy or enough.

The true story of every person in this world is not the story you see, the external story. The true story of each person is the journey of his or her heart.

We simply start saying, "I love you" as we turn our attention toward him for a moment or two. As I do so I find it helpful to recall some reason I love God: his goodness, the beauty of the world (ninety thousand caribou stacked up for a river crossing), a kindness I recently received. "God is the creator of everything I love." Just repeat that to yourself, "God is the creator of everything I love.

Then I ask for more of God: Jesus—I need more of you; fill me with more of you, God. Restore our union; fill me with your life.

Oswald Chambers, a man who wrote profoundly and elegantly on prayer, made a radical statement when he said, "The idea of prayer is not in order to get answers from God." Good heavens—it's not? What then is the purpose? "Prayer is perfect and complete oneness with God." A mighty truth is being uncovered here.

The great divide lies between men as lovers and men as consumers. Does he seek her out, long for her, because really he yearns for her to meet some need in his life—a need for validation (she makes him feel like a man), or mercy, or simply sexual gratification? That man is a Consumer, as my friend Craig calls him. The lover, on the other hand, wants to fight for her—he wants to protect her, make her life better, wants to fill her heart in every way he can.