Billy Graham Quotes

Faith literally means “to give up, surrender, or commit.” Faith is complete confidence.

~ Billy Graham

Faith in Christ is voluntary. A person cannot be coerced, bribed, or tricked into trusting Jesus. God will not force His way into your life. The Holy Spirit will do everything possible to disturb you, draw you, love you—but finally it is your personal decision.

~ Billy Graham

Happy is the person who has learned the secret of being content with whatever life brings him, and has learned to rejoice in thesimple and beautiful things around him.

~ Billy Graham

Do you really want happiness? Then you will have to pay the price of humbling yourself at the foot of the cross and receiving Christ as Savior.

~ Billy Graham

Happiness is a choice, but grief is a certainty.

~ Billy Graham

Christ said there is a happiness in that acknowledgement of spiritual poverty which lets God come into our souls.

~ Billy Graham

It is the presence of sin that prevents man from being truly happy.

~ Billy Graham

The mourning of inadequacy is a weeping that catches the attention of God . . .The happiest day of my life was when I realized that my own ability, my own goodness, my own morality was insufficient in the sight of God; and I publicly and openly acknowledged my need of Christ.

~ Billy Graham

We say, “Happy are the clever, for they shall inherit the admiration of their friends”; “Happy are the aggressive, for they shall inherit a career”; “Happy are the rich, for they shall inherit a world of friendsand a house full of modern gadgets.” Jesus said, “[Happy] are the meek; for they shallinherit the earth” [see Matthew 5:5]. If we want the secret of happiness . . .meekness” is a basic key.

~ Billy Graham

My wife and I were invited to have lunch with one of the wealthiest men in the world. He was seventy-five years old. Tears came down his cheeks. “I am the most miserable man in the world,” he said. I have everything anyone could ever want. If I want to go anywhere, I have my own yacht or private plane. But down inside I’m miserable and empty.” Shortly after, I met another man who preached in a small church nearby. He was vivacious and full of life, and he told us, “I don’t have a penny to my name, but I’m the happiest man in the world!

~ Billy Graham

The Bible lists in Hebrews 11 the heroes of the faith . . .who were tortured, imprisoned, stoned, torn apart, and killed by the sword. They didn’t wear designer jeans but went about in animal skins, destitute and tormented.

~ Billy Graham

There is no room for God’s Word in our culture, where our children are without reverence for God or faith in the Bible. There is no room for our Lord’s creed of purity and self-denial when the media sends forth a constant barrage of profanity and indecency and materialism.

~ Billy Graham

Discouragement is the opposite of faith. It is Satan’s device to thwart the work of God in your life.

~ Billy Graham

[The] inability to comprehend fully the mysteries of God does not in any way curtail the Christian faith. On the contrary, it enhances our belief. We do not understand the intricate pattern of the stars in their courses, but we know that He who created them does, and that just as surely as He guides them, He is charting a safe course for us.

~ Billy Graham

The Bible teaches that faith will manifest itself in three ways. It will manifest itself in doctrine—in what you believe. It will manifest itself in worship—your communion with God . . .It will manifest itself in morality—in the way you live and behave.

~ Billy Graham

Christians who are strong in the faith grow as they accept whatever God allows to enter their lives.

~ Billy Graham

I have never been to the North Pole, and yet I believe there is a North Pole. How do I know? I know because somebody told me. I read about it in a history book, I saw a map in a geography book, and I believe the men who wrote those books. I accept it by faith. The Bible says, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” [Romans 10:17 KJV].

~ Billy Graham

Our faith can stand up to any question, but sometimes people ask questions—and keep asking questions—just to avoid facing their own spiritual needs and acknowledging who Jesus really is.

~ Billy Graham

Don’t forget: Without fuel, a fire grows cold—and without the “fuel” of the Bible, prayer, and Christian fellowship, our faith grows cold.

~ Billy Graham

The Bible teaches that faith is the only approach that we have to God. No man has sins forgiven, no man goes to heaven, no man has assurance of peace and happiness, until he has faith in Jesus Christ.

~ Billy Graham

Faith isn’t pretending our problems don’t exist, nor is it simply blind optimism. Faith points us beyond our problems to the hope we have in Christ.

~ Billy Graham

Evangelism is not a calling reserved exclusively for the clergy. I believe one of the greatest priorities of the church today is to mobilize the laity to do the work of evangelism.

~ Billy Graham

Philip is the only person in the Bible who was called an evangelist, and he was a deacon!

~ Billy Graham

He who is called to and set apart for the work of an evangelist is to devote his time and effort single-mindedly to this God-given task. He is not to be distracted by anything likely to deflect him from this. Persecution will not weaken his resolution. The persuasion of others will fall on deaf ears. Only the clear leading of God will cause him to change his ministry.

~ Billy Graham

No clergyman however brilliant, no evangelist no matter how eloquent or compelling, can bring about the revival we need. Only the Holy Spirit can do this.

~ Billy Graham

The evangelistic ministry is a fight, not a frolic.

~ Billy Graham

The great crowds themselves are meaningless. The thing that counts is what happens in the hearts of the people. The evangelist sows the seed, and much inevitably falls upon stony ground and bears no fruit. But if only a few seeds flourish, the results are manifold.

~ Billy Graham

Evangelism has always been the heartbeat for our ministry, it is what God has called us to do.

~ Billy Graham

Evangelism is more than simply encouraging decisions for Christ. It is urging people to become disciples—followers—of Jesus Christ. As such, the evangelist has a responsibility to make growth in discipleship possible for those who come to faith under his ministry.

~ Billy Graham

This is still the age of grace. God’s offer of forgiveness and a new life still stands. However, the door will one day be closed. Someday it will be too late. This is why the Bible continually warns and challenges: “Now is the accepted time” [2 Corinthians 6:2 NKJV].

~ Billy Graham

When you pick up the cross of unpopularity, wherever you may be, you will find God’s grace is there, more than sufficient to meet your every need.

~ Billy Graham

Some of the most radiant Christians I have ever met were “wheelchair” saints. May God give you grace to “triumph in affliction.

~ Billy Graham

We are living in an age of grace, in which God promises that “whosoever will” may come and receive His Son. But this period of grace will not go on indefinitely. We are even now living on borrowed time.

~ Billy Graham

Only as we bow in contrition, confession, and repentance at the foot of the cross, can we find forgiveness. There is the grace of God!

~ Billy Graham

The motive of grace is the infinite, compassionate love of a merciful God, but the work of grace was the death of Christ on the cross.

~ Billy Graham

The grace of God has been tested in the crucible of human experience, and has been found to be more than an equal for the problems and sins of humanity.

~ Billy Graham

Throughout Scripture we read of warnings preceding disaster. Such alerts from God are part of His grace and provision.

~ Billy Graham

Christ did not suffer and die to offer cheap grace. Jesus did not willingly go to the cross so we could have an easy life or offer a faith built on easy-believism. As someone said, “Salvation is free, but not cheap.” It cost Jesus His life.

~ Billy Graham

I look forward to seeing Christ and bowing before Him in praise and gratitude for all He has done for us, and for using me on this earth by His grace—just as I am.

~ Billy Graham

Envy and greed always—always—exact a terrible price. I have never met an envious or greedy person who was at peace.

~ Billy Graham