Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.
Martin LutherRead
The Kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people. O you blasphemers and betrayers of Christ! If Christ had done what you are doing, who would ever have been spared?
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the necessity of confronting challenges and adversaries while remaining true to one's faith.
Martin Luther's quote reflects the idea that to truly embody the Kingdom of Christ, one must be willing to endure hardship and stand firm in the face of opposition. It criticizes those who seek comfort and acceptance among like-minded individuals, instead of engaging with a world that often contradicts their beliefs. The message implies that true faith requires strength and resilience amidst adversity.
Themes
FaithAdversityResilienceSufferingChristCourage
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon discussing the challenges of faith in a secular world.
More from Martin Luther
All quotes →Now if I believe in God's Son and remember that He became man, all creatures will appear a hundred times more beautiful to me than before. Then I will properly appreciate the sun, the moon, the stars, trees, apples, as I reflect that he is Lord over all things. ...God writes the Gospel, not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.
Martin LutherRead
It is the part of a Christian to take care of his own body for the very purpose that, by its soundness and wellbeing, he may be enabled to labour, and to acquire and preserve property, for the aid of those who are in want, that thus the stronger member may serve the weaker member, and we may be children of God, and busy for one another, bearing one another's burdens, and so fulfiling the law of Christ.
Martin LutherRead
Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but more frequently than not struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God.
Martin LutherRead
We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.
Martin LutherRead
In a mouse we admire God's creation and craft work. The same may be said about flies.
Martin LutherRead
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