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Dietrich Bonhoeffer Quotes - Page 3

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God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill His promises.

God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill His promises.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Giving, Promise, Doe
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Clyde E. Fant (1975). “Bonhoeffer: worldly preaching”

God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, namely, real human beings, the real world, this is for God the ground of unfathomable love.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Pain, Real, Godly

The pursuit of purity is not about the suppression of lust, but about the reorientation of one's life to a larger goal.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Goal, Lust, Purity

It is only because he became like us that we can become like him.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
God, Christian, Spiritual Wisdom
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2012). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.304, Simon and Schuster

I believe that nothing that happens to me is meaningless and that it is good for us all that it should be so, even if it runs counter to our own wishes. As I see it, I'm here for some purpose, and I only hope I may fulfill it.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Running, Believe, Destiny
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2011). “Letters Papers from Prison”, p.123, Simon and Schuster

The first call which every Christian experiences is the call to abandon the attachments of this world.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Christian, Attachment, Firsts

Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Love Is, Judging Yourself, Judging Others
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2015). “The Cost of Discipleship”, p.129, SCM Press

Jesus calls men, not to a new religion, but to life.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Jesus, Men, Call Me
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2011). “Letters Papers from Prison”, p.154, Simon and Schuster

There is meaning in every journey that is unknown to the traveler.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Journey, Traveler

I believe that God both wills and is able to bring good out of everything, even the worst... I believe that even our mistakes and wrongdoing are not fruitless.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Mistake, Believe, Able

The followers of Christ have been called to peace. . . . And they must not only have peace but make it. And to that end they renounce all violence and tumult. In the cause of Christ nothing is to be gained by such methods . . . . His disciples keep the peace by choosing to endure suffering themselves rather than inflict it on others. They maintain fellowship where others would break it off. They renounce hatred and wrong. In so doing they overcome evil with good, and establish the peace of God in the midst of a world of war and hate.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Peace, Hate, War

Only those who put tomorrow completely into God's hand and receive fully today what they need for their lives are really secure.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Life, Hands, Needs

The Church is the Church only when it exists for others...not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell men of every calling what it means to live for Christ, to exist for others.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Mean, Men, Church

Things do exist that are worth standing up for without compromise. To me it seems that peace and social justice are such things, as is Christ himself.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Justice, Compromise, Christ

Christianity preaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Infinite, Christianity, Worthless
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2008). “Barcelona, Berlin, New York, 1928-1931”

God turns toward the very places from which humans turn away.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Turns, Humans

In the first place, the church can ask the state whether its actions are legitimate and in accordance with its character as state, i.e., it can throw the state back on its responsibilities. Secondly, it can aid the victims of state action. The church has an unconditional obligation to the victims of any ordering of society, even if they do not belong to the Christian community. The third possibility is not just to bandage the victims under the wheel, but to put a spoke in the wheel itself.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Christian, Responsibility, Character

The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him, and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more disastrous is his isolation.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Sin, Isolated, Persons
"Life Together".

The first service that one owes to others consists in listening to them.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Listening, Firsts
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Samuel Wells (2015). “Life Together”, p.75, SCM Press

We do God’s work for our brothers and sisters when we learn to listen to them. So often Christians, especially preachers, think that their only service is always to have to 'offer' something when they are together with other people. They forget that listening can be a greater service than speaking. Many people seek a sympathetic ear and do not find it among Christians, because these Christians are talking even when they should be listening.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Christian, Brother, Thinking
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1996). “Life Together: Prayerbook of the Bible”, Fortress Pr

If you reject God's commanding word, you will not receive God's gracious word.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
God, Christian, Gracious

Only those who obey can believe, and only those who believe can obey.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Believe

Music... will help dissolve your perplexities and purify your character and sensibilities, and in time of care and sorrow, will keep a fountain of joy alive in you.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Music, Character, Joy

Who can really be faithful in great things if he has not learned to be faithful in the things of daily life?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Faithful, Daily Life, Great Things
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Samuel Wells (2015). “Life Together”, p.67, SCM Press

God does not love some ideal person, but rather human beings just as we are, not some ideal world, but rather the real world.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Real, Doe, World

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