Quotessence
Home / Authors / Lewis B. Smedes
Lewis B. Smedes

Lewis B. Smedes Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllForgivingForgivenessPeopleIfsHurtPainPersonsLongWayMemories

Famous Lewis B. Smedes Quotes

“When we forgive someone, we do not forget the hurtful act, as if forgetting came along with the forgiveness package, the way strings come with a violin. Begin with the basics. If you forget, you will not forgive at all. You can never forgive people for things you have forgotten about. You need to forgive precisely because you have not forgotten what someone did; your memory keeps the pain alive long after the hurt has stopped. Remembering is the storage of pain. It is why you need to be healed in the first place.”

PeopleIfsWayNeedsFirstsLongPainRememberHurtMemoriesForgetAliveForgivingForgottenStringsBitternessPackagesHealedOur MemoriesViolinForget YouBasicsHurtfulStorageNever Forgive
Author:Lewis B. Smedes
Create image

“Once we have forgiven, however, we get a new freedom to forget. This time forgetting is a sign of health; it is not a trick to avoid spiritual surgery. We can forget because we have been healed. But even if it is easier to forget after we forgive, we should not make forgetting a test of our forgiving. The test of forgiving lies with healing the lingering pain of the past, not with forgetting the past has ever happened.”

IfsShouldHas BeensPainPastSpiritualLyingForgetHealingHappenedEasierTestsForgivingTricksBitternessSurgeryForgivenHealedLingeringForget The Past
Author:Lewis B. Smedes
Create image

“Can you stop your memory on a dime, put it in reverse, and spin it in another direction the way you can reverse direction on a tape recorder? We cannot forget on command. So we just have to let the forgetting happen as it will; we shouldn't rush it, and we certainly should not doubt the genuineness of our forgiving if we happen to remember. The really important thing is that we have the power to forgive what we still do remember.”

IfsWayShouldStillsImportantHappensRememberMemoriesForgetDoubtImportant ThingsForgivingCommandBitternessTapeReverseOur MemoriesDimesRecordersGenuineness
Author:Lewis B. Smedes
Create image

“Some people ask who they are and expect their feelings to tell them. But feelings are flickering flames that fade after every fitful stimulus. Some people ask who they are and expect their achievements to tell them. But the things we accomplish always leave a core of character unrevealed. Some people ask who they are and expect visions of their ideal self to tell them. But our visions can only tell us what we want to be, not what we are”

PeopleWantSelfCharacterFeelingsAsksVisionAchievementIdealsAccomplishCoreFlamesFadesStimulus
Author:Lewis B. Smedes
Create image

“Human sexuality includes more than hormones, organs, and orgasms; it runs through the psychic and spiritual ranges of our lives. We experience our sexuality on the spiritual level as a yearning for another person. We want to reach out and stretch ourselves into the depths of another. We want to bring the other person into the orbit of our deepest selves. We want to probe into the mystery of the other.”

WantHumansPersonsSelfRunningSpiritualLevelsOur LivesMysteryDepthSexualityRangeReach OutYearningOrgansPsychicsHormonesOrbit
Book:Sex for Christians: the limits and liberties of sexual living
Create image

“I am personally thankful that we live together in a large moral house even if we do not drink at the same fountain of faith. The world we experience together is one world, God's world, and our world, and the problems we share are common human problems. So we can talk together, try to understand each other, and help each other.”

IfsWorldTryingHumansHelpingProblemTogetherHouseCommunityCommonMoralShareDrinkOur WorldFountainHelping Each OtherHuman Problems
Author:Lewis B. Smedes
Create image

“The moments of grace usually give us more than one good thing we can do, and we do well if we manage a pretty good batting average. ... It is an opportunity that God sews into the fabric of a routine situations - It is a chance to do something creative, something helpful, something healing, something that makes one unmarked spot in the world better off for our having been there.”

PeopleIfsWorldMomentsOpportunityChanceWalksHealingSituationCreativeGraceSpotsHelpfulRoutineFabricBetter OffDiscernmentDynamics
Author:Lewis B. Smedes
Create image