Religion is a very scary thing, because a pastor is in a position of power. And if you use that power badly, you ruin people's lives, and you ruin your own life.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
Worship is an act that develops feelings for God, not a feeling for God that is expressed in an act of worship.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Worship is a process that cultivates a relationship with God rather than merely expressing existing feelings towards Him.
Eugene H. Peterson emphasizes that true worship is an active engagement that fosters a deeper emotional and spiritual connection with God, rather than just a one-time expression of feelings. This perspective encourages individuals to see worship as a transformative act that nurtures their relationship with the divine over time.
Themes
WorshipGodRelationshipFeelingsSpirituality
In practice
Example use cases
During a sermon, a pastor quoted this to explain the importance of heartfelt worship.
More from Eugene H. Peterson
All quotes βWhen we sin and mess up our lives, we find that God doesn't go off and leave us- he enters into our trouble and saves us.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
If you don't take a Sabbath, something is wrong. You're doing too much, you're being too much in charge. You've got to quit, one day a week, and just watch what God is doing when you're not doing anything.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
Christians don't simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus' name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
Exile (being where we don't want to be with people we don't want to be with) forces a decision: Will I focus my attention on what is wrong with the world and feel sorry for myself? Or will I focus my energies on how I can live at my best in this place I find myself?...'I will do my best with what is here.'
Eugene H. PetersonRead
The Latin words humus, soil/earth, and homo, human being, have a common derivation, from which we also get our word 'humble.' This is the Genesis origin of who we are: dust - dust that the Lord God used to make us a human being. If we cultivate a lively sense of our origin and nurture a sense of continuity with it, who knows, we may also acquire humility.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
Similar quotes
The more reverence we have for the Word of God, the more joy we shall find in it.
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We do not sin when we adore Christ in the Eucharist; we do sin when we do not adore Christ in the Eucharist.
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Prayer is the greatest power God has put into our hands for service - praying is harder than doing, at least I find it so, but the dynamic lies that way to advance the Kingdom.
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We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the psalms, and that the habit of celebrating the greatness and graciousness of God yields an endless flow of thankfulness, joy, and zeal.
J. I. PackerRead
Once for all beloved children, the surest, easiest, shortest way is by the Eucharist. It is so easy to approach the holy table, and there we taste the joys of Paradise
Pope Pius XRead
The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.
Aiden Wilson TozerRead