Quotessence
Home / Books / Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community

Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community

Book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer · 7 quotes · Community, Church, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Filter quotes by topic

AllCommunityChurchDietrich BonhoefferSinLife TogetherAloneConfessionFellowshipPrayerChristChristianityGodHumilityJesusThe CrossWorkBlessedBrother And SisterBrotherhoodChristian Life

Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community Quotes

“Blessed are those who are alone in the strength of the community. Blessed are those who preserve community in the strength of solitude. But the strength of solitude and the strength of community is the strength of the Word of God alone, which is meant for the individual in the community.”

CommunityStrengthBlessedAloneLife TogetherDietrich BonhoefferDay Alone
Book:Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community
Create image

“In the Christian community thankfulness is just what it is anywhere else in the Christian life. Only he who gives thanks for little things receives the big things. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts. We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good. Then we deplore the fact that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith, and the rich experience that God has given to others, and we consider this lament to be pious. We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts. How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things? If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.”

GodCommunityGratitudeThankfulnessFellowship
Book:Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community
Create image

“We recognize, then, that only as we are within the fellowship can we be· alone, and only he that is alone can live in the fellowship. Only in the fellowship do we learn to be rightly alone and only in aloneness do we learn to live rightly in the fellowship. It is not as though the one preceded the other; both begin at the same time, namely, with the call of Jesus Christ.”

CommunityChurchAloneLife TogetherDietrich Bonhoeffer
Book:Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community
Create image

“The first service that one owes to others in the fellowship consists in listening to them. Just as love to God begins with listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brethren is learning to listen to them. It is God's love for us that He not only gives us His Word but also lends us His ear. So it is His work that we do for our brother and sister when we learn to listen to them.”

FriendshipCommunityCommunion With GodSpiritual DisciplinesSpiritual Direction
Book:Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community
Create image

“l can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitheno may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner. This is a happy discovery for the Christian who begins to pray for others. There is no dislike, no personal tension, no estrangement that cannot be overcome by intercession as far as our side of it is concerned. Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual and the fellowship must enter every day. The struggle we undergo with our brother in intercession may be a hard one, but that struggle has the promise that it will gain its goal.”

HateCommunityChurchPrayerChristian LifeLife TogetherBrother And SisterDietrich Bonhoeffer
Book:Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community
Create image