Quotes about Growth

Smooth seas don't produce skillful sailors.

As long as you continue to seek Him, son, your love will continue to grow. And as you express your love for Him through obedience, He'll reveal more of himself to you.

But the truth is, I can't sip from an hour-long church service on Sunday morning or dash off a hasty prayer or gulp down a daily Bible verse and expect them to sustain me any more than I can expect a glass of water to last for a week.

The war has changed you, too, Caroline. Your faith is stronger, your compassion deeper, your love more intense than ever before. It's as if all the qualities I saw in you and fell in love with have been refined and purified.

Love for God is never instant. It has to grow and mature just like any other kind of love. The struggle is always with our will.

You're feeling the flames, Ezra, but that's part of the process. This pot I just made won't be useful for anything until it goes through that fire." He pointed to the kiln, where waves of heat shimmered above it. "The pots baking in there right now would be useless if they didn't endure the heat.

Maybe it's because spiritual growth and vibrant faith in God don't happen in isolation, but under pressure.

Today Rosa's little one will take his first step in outgrowing his mother. Children are their own persons; they are not part of us.

Our trials are supposed to turn us toward God, but we whine and complain and wish someone would turn down the fire so we could have our old life back the way it was.

Smooth seas don't produce skillful sailors.' It's the rought waters that train us to e His disciples. He uses the turbulent times I our lives to prepare us for His purposes-if we'll let Him.

These seasons of suffering are not for nothing. They will grow you. They will shape you. They will soften you. They will allow you to experience God's comfort and compassion. But you will find life-giving purpose and meaning when you allow God to take your painful experiences and comfort others. You will be able to share a unique hope because you know exactly what it feels like to be them.

Like a tree, a woman can't carry the weight of two seasons simultaneously. In the violent struggle of trying, she'll miss every bit of joy each season promises to bring.