Everybody is going to have their critics. It's easy to get discouraged in life.

The people God put in your life are not there by accident. Don't get so busy that you just give them your leftover time.

I feel like what's come out of me is the gift God has given me just to encourage people, to help them know that there's a better life.

I feel like when I stay focused on encouraging people, and giving them hope, and helping them live their everyday life, I think that's where I can have the most impact.

I'm not beating people over the head, and I'm saying that there are good things in store - you can make it in life. Most of the stuff that I minister [is] not real complicated deep things.

Surround yourself with people who can help you grow into the person you want to become.

Spend your time with people who recognise and appreciate your value.

I find great happiness in my relationships with old friends, living mirrors that reflect histories of laughter and sorrow, triumphs and failures, births and deaths, on both sides.

Never worry alone. When anxiety grabs my mind, it is self-perpetuating. Worrisome thoughts reproduce faster than rabbits, so one of the most powerful ways to stop the spiral of worry is simply to disclose my worry to a friend... The simple act of reassurance from another human being [becomes] a tool of the Spirit to cast out fear -- because peace and fear are both contagious.

No matter how little money we have, no matter what rung we occupy on anybody's corporate ladder of success, in the end what everybody discovers is that what matters is other people. Human beings who give themselves to relational greatness—who have friends they laugh with, cry with, learn with, fight with, dance with, live and love and grow old and die with—these are the human beings who lead magnificent lives.

Ever console or scold people hurt in human relationships that satisfaction comes from God alone? Stop. Adam's fellowship with God was perfect, and God Himself declared Adam needed other humans.

You can't ever be your heroes, but you can love their gifts.