John Eldredge Quotes

We think you'll find that every woman in her heart of hearts longs for three things: to be romanced, to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure, and to unveil beauty. That's what makes a woman come alive.

~ John Eldredge

The culture of women in the church today is crippled by some very pervasive lies. To be spiritual is to be busy. To be spiritual is to be disciplined. To be spiritual is to be dutiful. No, to be spiritual is to be in Romance with God. The desire to be romanced lies deep in the heart of every women. It is for such that you were made. Are you ARE romanced, and ever will be.

~ John Eldredge

I wasn't mean; I wasn't evil. I was nice. And let me tell you, a hesitant man is the last thing in the world a woman needs. She needs a lover and a warrior, not a Really Nice Guy.

~ John Eldredge

The true story of every person in this world is not the story you see, the external story. The true story of each person is the journey of his or her heart.

~ John Eldredge

She is the crescendo, the final, astonishing work of God. Woman. In one last flourish creation comes to a finish with Eve. She is the Master's finishing touch.

~ John Eldredge

Should the king in exile pretend he is happy there?Should he not seek his own country?His miseries are his ally; they urge him on. Let them grow, if need be. But do not forsake the secret of life; do not despise those kingly desires. We abandon the most important journey of our lives when we abandon desire. We leave our hearts by the side of the road and head off in the direction of fitting in, getting by, being productive, what have you. Whatever we might gain – money, position, the approval of others, or just absence of the discontent self – it’s not worth it.

~ John Eldredge

You can't fight a battle you don't think exists.

~ John Eldredge

One of the great wonders of Christianity is that you were born into your times, to set your times aright.

~ John Eldredge

We are created for adventure, and if we cannot find one, we start blowing things out of proportion so it feels like we have one.

~ John Eldredge

Prayer is such an intimate act, a place of vulnerability. It is, hopefully, when we are our least guarded, our most honest selves. And this is good, of course; this is as it ought to be. When we come to God, we certainly want to come as honestly and openly as we can; we want to be our truest selves before him. Prayer lets us be in a place of need.

~ John Eldredge

You will find it hard to hear from God until you let go your rights and your agenda.

~ John Eldredge

Grief is a form of validation, it says the wound mattered. It mattered. You mattered.

~ John Eldredge

Deep in his heart, every man longs for a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue.

~ John Eldredge

Hope is a fruit of proven character.

~ John Eldredge

We forgive those who harmed us. And then, with an open heart, we simply as Jesus to heal us.

~ John Eldredge

You would not ask someone with a broken arm to swim the English Channel, so you cannot demand that the broken to live as if they were whole.

~ John Eldredge

Wouldn't it help you to realize that you really do live in an epic if your life had a soundtrack?

~ John Eldredge

In the case of our fair maiden, we have overlooked two very crucial aspects to that myth. On the one hand, none of us ever really believed the sorcerer was real. We thought we could have the maiden without a fight. Honestly, most of us guys thought our biggest battle was asking her out. And second, we have not understood the tower and its relationship to her wound; the damsel is in distress. If masculinity has come under assault, femininity has been brutalized. Eve is the crown of creation, remember? She embodies the exquisite beauty and the exotic mystery of God in a way that nothing else in all creation even comes close to. And so she is the special target of the Evil One; he turns his most vicious malice against her. If he can destroy her or keep her captive, he can ruin the story.

~ John Eldredge

A woman in her glory, a woman of beauty, is a woman who is not striving to become beautiful or worthy or enough. She knows in her quiet center where God dwells that he find her beautiful, has deemed her worthy, and in him, she is enough.

~ John Eldredge

The balancing act we parents attempt is convincing our children: 1. You are loved more than you can imagine. 2. The world does not revolve around you.

~ John Eldredge

The intellectual support for UNBELIEF is about as stable as the stock market.

~ John Eldredge

Sometimes the idea of living as a hermit appeals to all of us. No demands, no needs, no pain, no disappointments. But that is because we have been hurt, are worn out.

~ John Eldredge

A woman in her glory, a woman of beauty, is a woman who is not striving to become beautiful or worthy or enough.

~ John Eldredge

Most of our addictions [shopping, food, bad relationships] as women flare up when we feel that we are not loved or sought after.

~ John Eldredge

Now yes, yes, creation sometimes screams a confusing message—fear, pain, grief. Fire burns, rivers flood, winds go hurricane, the earth shudders so hard it levels cities. But you must remember—this was not so in Eden. Mankind fell, surrendering this earth to the evil one. St. Paul says that creation groans for the day of its restoration (see Rom. 8:18–22), making it clear that everything is not as it was meant to be. People come to terrible conclusions when they assume this world is exactly as God intended. (An assumption that has wrought havoc in the sciences.) The earth is broken.Which only makes the beauty that does flow so generously that much more astounding. And reassuring.

~ John Eldredge

It takes courage to seek God, and courage to wait for His reply.

~ John Eldredge

You cannot force people to walk with God. You cannot force them to repent. All you can do is live with integrity and invite them to do so as well. Take things a step at a time. Give them consequences when they refuse to deal with serious issues, and pray. Pray like the dickens. Pray every step of the way.

~ John Eldredge

The years have simply reconciled us to the fact that we are all here for the transformation.

~ John Eldredge

So you can't demand the broken to live as if they were whole. Discipline is not the issue, apply discipline and you'll make it worse. What is needed is healing.

~ John Eldredge

We describe a person without compassion as “heartless,” and we urge him or her to “have a heart.” Our deepest hurts we call “heartaches.” Jilted lovers are “brokenhearted.” Courageous soldiers are “bravehearted.” The truly evil are “black-hearted” and saints have “hearts of gold.” If we need to speak at the most intimate level, we ask for a “heart-to-heart” talk. “Lighthearted” is how we feel on vacation. And when we love someone as truly as we may, we love “with all our heart.” But when we lose our passion for life, when a deadness sets in which we cannot...

~ John Eldredge

Sartre felt that Hell is other people, but precisely the opposite is true. Hell is being left alone forever with no other reality than your own consciousness of yourself. It is being locked in a casket of your own internal chaos with no hope of a window, or door leading in light from outside to give you a moment's respite from yourself. Hell is the refusal of the gift of the other.

~ John Eldredge

There is no greater place for damage (than marriage) because there is no greater place for glory.

~ John Eldredge

Most men wait to move until victory is guaranteed.

~ John Eldredge

Contentment can only happen as we increase desire, let it run itself out towar its fulfilment, and carry us along with it.

~ John Eldredge

God lures us into marriage through love and sex and loneliness, or simply the fact that someone finally paid attention - all those reasons that you got married in the first place. It doesn't really matter, he'll do whatever it takes. He lures us into marriage and then he uses it to transform us.

~ John Eldredge

It takes great courage to be vulnerable. It takes enormous strength to be a real woman.

~ John Eldredge

Just like sunshine affects others, when the life of Jesus invades your life, you become a loving person. The effect on others is amazing.

~ John Eldredge

There are a lot of good men out there who just need a little direction and leadership in order for them to offer what they have to young men and boys.

~ John Eldredge

Where a man's strength and courage is tested most is in the way that he treats women - the way that he loves.

~ John Eldredge

Men want a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. That is what is written in their hearts. That is what little boys play at. That is what men's movies are about. You just see it. It is undeniable.

~ John Eldredge