The Sayings of Samuel Godfrey George - April 2012

Power over evil is to be able to do evil and still be willing to refrain from doing it. It is only he who can do evil and yet does not choose to do evil that has any power over evil.

I believe in the God of the Bible. I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, his Son. I believe that the Bible is the word of God containing the message of God to His people. Not everything in this message is clear to me. Some of it is not even acceptable to me. But I am willing to endure what I do not understand and agree with, as I am aware of the limitations of human perception and understanding. I am also aware of God’s superior knowledge and understanding, and I bow to it in trusting humility.

A man should tell the truth as he hears it. He must speak to anyone who is willing to listen. If he must, he should speak in places where people are few. He must speak even if no one is willing to listen. He must speak and continue to speak in the hope that someone will listen.

Be grateful for everything, even for the beggarly gift. You are not entitled to anything, and yet you have been given.

I have the mind of Christ. I have the vision of Christ. This is what I will choose to believe even if my mind and my eyes deceive me at times. Let my choices and my path be dictated by what I choose to believe. There is a path that seems right, but let that path not be mine. There is a path that only God knows is right. Let that path be mine. There is a life that God has prepared for me. Let that be my life. Every other desire no matter how good and legitimate, let it vanish from my life.

Doing what I think is good is not good enough any more. Doing what is truly good in the eyes of God is what I need to do. My life should be determined by God’s will for me. May I seek God’s will as those who thirst in a dry land seek water.

I don’t want to meet anyone randomly. Let every human contact be God-ordained and purpose-driven. Let every person I meet be the one God wants me to meet for a certain reason.

To like a person for his or her looks, what a deceptive thing that is! I have fallen for looks many times and I am far from being victorious in this area. Thankfully God is with me to guide me away from such superficial attractions. With God I have learned to look into the hearts and minds of people.

It is time for me not to say that I love God. That time is over. It is time for me to prove that I love God. And the only way I can do that is by following God and living according to His teachings.

It is time to shut up and listen.

You must stop so that God may start.

If someone is truly your friend he will search for you. Allow him to search for you. Separate yourself from him. Deprive him of your company. And you shall see how much you mean to him.

It is not in wanting but in not wanting that strength is expressed. You should not want what you cannot have. And when you cannot have something it is strong not to want it.

If ever there is a question as to whether Man or God is right, it will most certainly be God for me. I’d rather trust God in His most casual moment than Man in his most earnest.

Deception is saying the unholy thing in the holy way. It is falsehood uttered like truth. It is pain conveyed like joy. It is hell portrayed like heaven.

Sometimes when you do something people notice. Sometimes when you do something people do not notice. Regardless of how people react, do something. Do something as long as you want to do something. Do something only for that reason.

It is good not to ridicule anyone or anything. We are all quite ridiculous anyway.

Forgive not because forgiveness is good for you. Such forgiveness is worthless. Forgive because everyone whom you will forgive is as weak and flawed as you are. People need your forgiveness as much as you need theirs.

I'm so happy Lord. I'm so happy that I can love others. It was you who put that love in me. It was you who gave me the power to convey it.

What startles me from my complacency? This is the only thing worth looking forward to.

Rejection is not always bad. In some cases it is an absolute must.

Speak the truth even if everybody speaks it. Speak it especially when nobody speaks it.

Spell out even painfully your expectations. Declare them as truth even if they should look utterly improbable. As light came to dispel a huge darkness, your hope will eventually dismantle the barriers that seem impregnable.

Do you want to progress spiritually? Then you must believe even if your belief appears ridiculous. You must wait though waiting seems hopeless. You must endure even if endurance means your ultimate doom. You should walk into a fiery death still hopeful of triumph.

We're going to have to fight this out. We're going to lose some teeth.

When the tempting thing is pushed away it shall tempt you even more. Abstain from a temptation and it shall tempt you more than before. But stay close to the temptation, look it in the eye, study it from all angles, experience it in deep concentration, and then you shall taste and see the littleness of it. And the more you see the littleness of it, the less will be its hold over you.

What does worry do for you? What does doubt achieve for you? This and only this - a state of misery. As long as you are miserable, you cannot rejoice. As long as you cannot rejoice, you cannot receive from God. St. Paul did not understate this when he said, "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, rejoice."

Everything that crushes hope redefines your soul and renews hope that will better endure the realities of life.

To let something grow one must be willing to ignore it.

There are two approaches to relationships. One is the direct approach, and the other the indirect. I prefer the former to the latter.

A step-by-step approach is best. It is good not to achieve the goal immediately. Let achievement and addition be gradual and spaced out. In this way every event can be studied and judged. Thus one can maintain a greater control over something.

To conquer the thing you fear you must do the thing you fear. Then you must wait and learn.

How meaningful is the terrible silence! In what we dread is what we need. In the silence is the deafening answer. Hear it and rejoice.

The constricted, cloistered approach is inimical to the proper expression of beauty that emerges from varied influences, each of which significantly contributing to the ultimate effect and thus meriting mention.

Dig deep into yourself. There is no telling what you will find in there. There is no limit to self-discovery.

Do not create strange places of discomfort but familiar places of comfort. Where there is comfort there is hope. Where there is hope there is strength.