There is no higher “law” to be obeyed than the law of love. That, at the end of the day, is what it means to follow Jesus. – The Bible Tells Me So, Peter Enns

When we have suffered, when we have been bruised and scarred, when our light has been blown out, when we are ground beneath someone else’s heel, I hope to remember we belong to a God who is faithful to restore us. We aren’t invisible to Jesus or embarrassing to Jesus, nor are we unwelcome. In fact, Scripture tells us over and over that our very brokenness—our hurt, our oppression, our poverty, our sickness, our grief—makes us dear to Jesus. He is moved by compassion for us. His love never ends. His care for us is relentless. He vindicates, he brings justice, he brings healing, he inaugurates the right way of seeing creation and created and Creator. – Miracles and Other Reasonable Things: A Story of Unlearning and Relearning God, Sarah Bessey

To bring light and hope, you and I must show up for life in our homes, in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces, and in our schools not as “missionaries” and self-proclaimed blessings but as imperfect parents, genuine friends, competent professionals, and messy people. We must show up as safe havens, not as mini saviors. We must bravely show up in our everyday lives to do our best with what we have, listening carefully, serving sensibly, and loving fully as active participants in the story of who God is and what God does…

We don’t need to spend another second of our life wondering about our spiritual calling, because we’re already right here in the thick of it. We’re already called. It doesn’t matter where you live, whom you know, what you can do, or how much you have to offer; you were called into the fray on the day you were born, and your calling is love. Love God and love others. That’s the whole deal.

– The Very Worst Missionary: A Memoir or Whatever, Jamie Wright

The world has long been full of hurt and need, but religious leaders are often too tightly bound to their own agenda to offer any real help. It’s been like this for ages. But Jesus isn’t interested in preserving the way it’s always been. He came to heal the paralyzed, so you don’t have to stay stuck. – The Very Worst Missionary: A Memoir or Whatever, Jamie Wright

I am certain of only two things. The first is that when Jesus told me to love my neighbor, I’m pretty sure he meant, like, my actual neighbor—the person or people nearest to me at any given moment. At home. At work. On the subway. In the supermarket. On a street corner. Y’know, neighbors. And the second thing is this: The only way to know how to truly love your neighbor is to truly know your neighbor. – The Very Worst Missionary: A Memoir or Whatever, Jamie Wright

In the beginning, all I knew was that I needed to follow Jesus, and I thought that meant acting like a good Christian. Strangely, the longer I have walked with Jesus, the more strongly I feel that to align myself with the so-called good Christians is to stand in stark contrast against his teaching…
When I really got to know him, what I found in Jesus was a strong man with a submissive will, fully and courageously given over to God’s wild purpose for the world. Jesus was just a badass. He was a rule breaker. A system-bucking ball buster. He boldly pushed back against social norms and the religious order of the day to engage in his God-given duty to heal the sick, feed the poor, call out injustice, and pave the way for everyone to know the saving grace of faith, hope, and love. The world called him weird and the club called him dangerous. They spit on him, they threw things at him, they drove him away, and hell, eventually they killed him. But Jesus was such a motherfucking badass, he just kept loving.
– The Very Worst Missionary: A Memoir or Whatever, Jamie Wright

There was only one guy in the whole Bible Jesus ever personally promised a place with him in Paradise. Not Peter, not Paul, not any of those guys. He was a convicted thief, being executed. So don’t knock the guys on death row. Maybe they know something you don’t. – American Gods, Neil Gaiman

Jesus is so worthy of stars in our eyes, butterflies in our stomachs, heart palpitations in our chests. He really is, man. What is not to love about a guy who pulled children onto His lap and saved a failing party and touched the untouchables and told off the religious elite? I have always said that if you don’t love Jesus, you just don’t know Him. He is the full and complete jam, and we would all be fighting to sit by Him at dinner if He was here now (and you know He would sit by the most wretched, broken-down person there and give everyone else FOMO). I cannot wait to meet Jesus in heaven. He is my favorite. – Of Mess and Moxie, Jen Hatmaker

I’ve got Jesus on my side, Morticia Adams or not. Jesus doesn’t love people for their blamelessness or their excellent soufflés. That’s the cool thing about Jesus. He loves me regardless of if I swear like a sailor, or was a slut, or did buckets of heroin. God, a friend of mine once told me, gives us the gift of unconditional love. – Everything You Ever Wanted: A Memoir, Jillian Lauren