“Books don’t change people; paragraphs do. Sometimes even sentences.”
John Piper wrote those words in the preface to A Godward Life, and I would agree with the sentiment. Many of the sentences that have changed my life have flowed from his pen. As a tribute to this man whom God has used to bless and challenge and enlighten and instruct me time and time again, I thought I would share ten quotes that I have found meaningful with the hopes that you too will find them nourishing. Read them slowly and let them sink in…
1) “Sin is what you do when your heart is not satisfied with God.” (Future Grace, page 9)
2) “You don’t have to know a lot of things for your life to make a difference in the world. But you do have to know the few great things that matter, perhaps just one, and then be willing to live for them and die for them.” (Don’t Waste Your Life, page 37)
3) “When things are going “bad” that does not mean that God has stopped doing good.” (Pleasures of God, page 189)
4) “Love is the overflow of joy in God which gladly meets the needs of others.” (Desiring God, page 128)
5) “Not to display God’s worth by enjoying Him above all things is to be a mere echo of the music we were created to make.” (Pierced by the Word, page 26)
6) ”Therefore, the reason God seeks our praise is not because He won’t be complete until He gets it. He is seeking our praise because we won’t be complete until we give it.” (Life as a Vapor, page 162)
7) ”The evidence that many of our people are not rich toward God is how little they give and how much they own.” (Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, page 169)
8) “The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God.” (God is the Gospel, page 47)
9) “Part of saving faith is the assurance that you will have faith tomorrow. Trusting Christ today includes trusting him to give you tomorrow’s trust when tomorrow comes.” (A Godward Life, page 25)
10) “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” (In just about every book written by Piper!)
So, may I encourage you to pick up a book written by this man of God – they are not easy reads, but they are most definitely worthy reads…after all…”If a book is easy and fits nicely into all your language conventions and thought forms, then you probably will not grow much from reading it. It may be entertaining, but not enlarging to your understanding. It’s the hard books that count. Raking is easy, but all you get is leaves; digging is hard, but you might find diamonds.” (God’s Passion for His Glory, page 29)
