Bob Goff Quotes

I used to be afraid of failing at something that really mattered to me, but now I'm more afraid of succeeding at things that don't matter.

Most people need love and acceptance a lot more than they need advice.

I used to want to fix people, but now I just want to be with them.

You don't need a plan; you just need to be present.

I used to think you had to be special for God to use you, but now I know you simply need to say yes.

...love is never stationary.

But the kind of love that God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence. It's a love that operates more like a sign language than being spoken outright.

Simply put: love does.

That's what love does - it pursues blindly, unflinchingly, and without end. When you go after something you love, you'll do anything it takes to get it, even if it costs everything.

The thing I love about God is He intentionally guides people into failure.

Every day God invites us on the same kind of adventure. It's not a trip where He sends us a rigid itinerary, He simply invites us. God asks what it is He's made us to love, what it is that captures our attention, what feeds that deep indescribable need of our souls to experience the richness of the world He made. And then, leaning over us, He whispers, "Let's go do that together.

When joy is a habit, love is a reflex.

Grace works that way. It's a kind word from a gentle person with an impossible prayer. It's a force sometimes transmitted best hand to hand in a dark place.

It has always seemed to me that broken things, just like broken people, get used more; it's probably because God has more pieces to work with.

Failure is just part of the process, and it's not just okay; it's better than okay. God doesn't want failure to shut us down. God didn't make it a three-strikes-and-you're-out sort of thing. It's more about how God helps us dust ourselves off so we can swing for the fences again. And all of this without keeping a meticulous record of our screw-ups.

I used to think God wouldn’t talk to me, but now I know I’m just selective with what I choose to hear.

Something happens when you feel ownership. You no longer act like a spectator or consumer, because you're an owner. Faith is at its best when it's that way too. It's best lived when it's owned.

When you trust someone, you don't need to know everything.

Being engaged is a way of doing life, a way of living and loving. It's about going to extremes and expressing the bright hope that life offers us, a hope that makes us brave and expels darkness with light. That's what I want my life to be all about - full of abandon, whimsy, and in love.

Whimsy doesn't care if you are the driver or the passenger; all that matters is that you are on your way.

Living a life fully engaged and full of whimsy and the kind of things that love does is something most people plan to do, but along the way they just kind of forget. Their dreams become one of those "we'll go there next time" deferrals. The sad thing is, for many there is no "next time" because passing on the chance to cross over is an overall attitude toward life rather than a single decision.

I want to go barefoot because it’s holy ground; I want to be running because time is short and none of us has as much runway as we think we do; and I want it to be a fight because that’s where we can make a difference. That’s what love does.

That’s because love is never stationary. In the end, love doesn’t just keep thinking about it or keep planning for it. Simply put: love does.

For me, it's Jesus plus nothing-...

we’re all rough drafts of the people we’re still becoming.

Burning down others’ opinions doesn’t make us right. It makes us arsonists.

We don't really make friends, they make us.

That's one of those things about love. It always assumes it can find a way to express itself.

If Jesus has taught me anything, though, it's that sometimes you can really want to know somebody and it takes them forever to want to know you back.

When you are in high school, you don't give much thought to what you can't do. For most people, that gets learned later, and for still fewer, gets unlearned for the rest of life.

No one is remembered for what they only planned to do.

What Jesus said we could do is leave typical behind.

I think God’s hope and plan for us is pretty simple to figure out. For those who resonate with formulas, here it is: add your whole life, your loves, your passions, and your interests together with what God said He wants us to be about, and that’s your answer.

Jesus lets us be real with our life and our faith.

Love does whatever it takes to multiply itself and somehow along the way everyone becomes a part of it.

Think the thoughts you would think if you wholeheartedly trusted God's promises.

Jesus talked to His friends a lot about how we should identify ourselves. He said it wouldn’t be what we said we believed or all the good we hoped to do someday. Nope, He said we would identify ourselves simply by how we loved people. It’s tempting to think there is more to it, but there’s not. Love isn’t something we fall into; love is some one we become.

...we need to stop plotting the course and instead just land the plane on our plans to make a difference by getting to the "do" part of faith.

People who follow Jesus, though, are no longer typical - God is constantly inviting them into a life that moves away from typical.

These people haven’t tried to save up love like they’re going to need it later; they know we’re rivers, not reservoirs.

No one expects us to love them flawlessly, but we can love them fearlessly, furiously, and unreasonably.

Whimsy...needs to be fully experienced to be fully known. Whimsy doesn't care if you are the driver or the passenger; all that matters is that you are on your way.

When love is a theory, it's safe, it's free of risk. But love in the brain changes nothing.

We’re not held back by what we don’t have, but by what we don’t use.

There’s a difference between good judgment and living in judgment.

Words can launch us. We don't need to be a dean to say words that change everything for someone. Instead, God made it so that ordinary people like you and me can launch each other.

We need to make our faith our very own love story.

he said we'd know the extent of out love for God by how well we loved people.

I don’t think Bible verses were meant to be thrown like grenades at each other. They were meant for us to use to point each other toward love and grace and invite us into something much bigger.

I don't think anyone aims to be typical, really. Most people even vow to themselves some time in high school or college not to be typical. But still, they just kind of loop back to it somehow. Like the circular rails of a train at an amusement park, the scripts we know offer a brand of security, of predictability, of safety for us. But the problem is, they only take us where we've already been. They loop us back to places where everyone can easily go, not necessarily where we were made to go. Living a different kind of life takes some guts and grit and a new way of seeing things.

When it's a matter of the heart, the place doesn't matter.

It’s given me a lot of comfort knowing we’re all rough drafts of the people we’re still becoming.

What is it that you don't think you can do? What do you think is too big for you? Or too scary, or too risky? Sometimes God whispers it, and sometimes, he shouts it. Whatever the volume, I bet he's always using the same three words with us: Be Not Afraid.

In the end, love doesn’t just keep thinking about it or keep planning for it. Simply put: love does.

The people who slowly became typical have the greatest problem wrapping their minds around a dynamic friendship with an invisible, alive God.

Actually, the real game of Bigger and Better that Jesus is playing with us usually isn’t about money or possessions or even our hopes. It’s about our pride. He asks if we’ll give up that thing we’re so proud of, that thing we believe causes us to matter in the eyes of the world, and give it up to follow Him. He’s asking us, “Will you take what you think defines you, leave it behind, and let Me define who you are instead?

Nobody turns down an invitation to the white house, but I've seen plenty of people turn down an invitation to fully live.

You know what it is about someone that makes them a friend? A friend doesn’t just say things; a friend does.

We were born to be brave.

I learned that faith isn’t about knowing all of the right stuff or obeying a list of rules. It’s something more, something more costly because it being present and making a sacrifice. Perhaps that’s why Jesus is sometimes called Immanuel - “God with us.” I think that’s what God had in mind, for Jesus to be present, to just be with us. It’s also what He has in mind for us when it comes to other people.

Love isn’t something we fall into; love is someone we become.

Sadly, whenever I make my opinions more important than the difficult people God made, I turn the wine back into water.

Things that go wrong can shape us or scar us.

Jesus never said doing these things would be easy. He just said it would work.

I’ve spent my whole life avoiding the people Jesus spent His whole life engaging

Turn your mountains into molehills by discussing God more than your difficulties.

God doesn't want failure to shut us down.

[...] I've realized that I used to be afraid of failing at the things that really mattered to me, but now I'm more afraid of succeeding at things that don't matter.

We all want to have a place where we can dream and escape anything that wraps steel bands around our imagination and creativity.

...it seems that what God does most of the time when He has something to say is this...He doesn't pass us messages, instead he passes us each other.

That’s what love does—it pursues blindly, unflinchingly, and without end. When you go after something you love, you’ll do anything it takes to get it, even if it costs everything.

It has always seemed to me that broken things, just like broken people, get used more; it’s probably because God has more pieces to work with.

He saw the need and he did something about it. He didn't just say he was for me or with me. He was actually present with me.

We were all meant to save many lives. God is always trying to save lives, and it seems like He usually uses the least likely people to do it.

I used to think I had to act a certain way to follow God, but now I know God doesn’t want us to be typical.

I think a father’s job, when it’s done best, is to get down on both knees, lean over his children’s lives, and whisper, ‘Where do you want to go?’ Every day God invites us on the same kind of adventure. It’s not a trip where He sends us a rigid itinerary, He simply invites us. God asks what it is He’s made us to love, what it is that captures our attention, what feeds that deep indescribable need of our souls to experience the richness of the world He made. And then, leaning over us, He whispers, ‘Let’s go do THAT together.

I think God pays attention to our hearts and enjoys when people want to get close to Him. He knows our sadness and the brokenness we want to hide from Him, and He sends people to look for us.

You’ll be able to spot people who are becoming love because they want to build kingdoms, not castles. They fill their lives with people who don’t look like them or act like them or even believe the same things as them. They treat them with love and respect and are more eager to learn from them than presume they have something to teach.

I think Jesus meant something different when He said “enemies.” He meant we should love the people we don’t understand. The ones we disagree with. The ones who are flat wrong about more than a couple of things. I have plenty of those people in my life, and my bet is you do too.

there’s a big difference between liking Jesus and being like Him, and He said we would never be able to be like Him unless we loved our enemies.

I used to think God guided us by opening and closing doors, but now I know sometimes God wants us to kick some doors down.

I wasn't a project; I was his friend.

We don’t need more facts to find the purpose and kindness and unselfishness we long for; we need a firmly seated faith, a few good friends, and a couple of trustworthy reminders.

But extravagant love often means coloring outside the lines and going beyond the norms.

If I’m only willing to love the people who are nice to me, the ones who see things the way I do, and avoid all the rest, it’s like reading every other page of the Bible and thinking I know what it says.

The people who creep us out aren’t obstacles to having faith; they’re opportunities to understand it.

But I've always wondered if, when we want to do something that we know is right and good, God places that desire deep in out hearts because He wants it for us and it honors Him. Maybe there are times when we think a door has been close and, instead of misinterpreting the circumstances, God wants us to kick it down. Or perhaps just sit outside of it long enough until somebody tells us we can some in.

He said we would identify ourselves simply by how we loved people. It’s tempting to think there is more to it, but there’s not. Love isn’t something we fall into; love is someone we become.

I think God sometimes uses the completely inexplicable events in our lives to point us toward Him. We get to decide each time whether we will lean in toward what is unfolding and say yes or back away. The folks who were following Jesus in Galilee got to decide the same thing each day because there was no road map, no program, and no certainty. All they had was this person, an idea, and an invitation to come and see.

we’ll be remembered for our love. What I’ve learned following Jesus is we only really find our identities by engaging the people we’ve been avoiding. Jesus wrapped up this concept in three simple and seemingly impossible ideas for us to follow: love Him, love your neighbor, and love your enemies.

We don't need a plan to do these things. We don't need to wait for just the right moment. We just need to show up, grab a parachute, and when it's time, jump out of our shoes after people the way Jesus jumped out of heaven to be with us. Sometimes, we make loving people a lot more complicated than Jesus did.

We make loving people a lot more complicated than Jesus did. Every time I try to protect myself by telling somebody about one of my opinions, God whispers to me and asks about my heart. Why are you so afraid? Who are you trying to impress? Am I really so insecure that I surround myself only with people who agree with me? When people are flat wrong, why do I appoint myself the sheriff to straighten them out? Burning down others’ opinions doesn’t make us right. It makes us arsonists.

Jesus talked to His friends a lot about how we should identify ourselves. He said it wouldn’t be what we said we believed or all the good we hoped to do someday. Nope, He said we would identify ourselves simply by how we loved people. It’s tempting to think there is more to it, but there’s not. Love isn’t something we fall into; love is someone we become.

Finally, and definitely the coolest part, is that you get a card from the State Department that gives you diplomatic immunity. I wasn't exactly sure what diplomatic immunity meant, so I asked around to see if I could kill someone. Not someone important, of course, but someone normal - like Doug. I never got a call back on the question so I'm operating under the assumption that I can.

The cool thing about taking Jesus up on His offer is that whatever controls you doesn’t anymore. People who used to be obsessed about becoming famous no longer care whether anybody knows their name. People who used to want power are willing to serve. People who used to chase money freely give it away. People who used to beg others for acceptance are now strong enough to give love. When we get our security from Christ, we no longer have to look for it in the world, and that’s a pretty good trade.

I learned that faith isn't about knowing all the right stuff or obeying a list of ruled. It's something more, something more costly because it involves being present and making a sacrifice. Perhaps that's why Jesus is sometimes called Immanuel - 'God with us.' I think that's what God had in mind, for Jesus to be present, to just be with us. It's also what He has in mind for us when it comes to other people.

There are plenty of people I don’t understand. I suppose some are trolls and some aren’t. God doesn’t see people the way I do, though. The ones I see as problems, God sees as sons and daughters, made in His image. The ones I see as difficult, He sees as delightfully different. The fact is, what skews my view of people who are sometimes hard to be around is that God is working on different things in their lives than He is working on in mine.

God wants me to love the ones I don’t understand, to get to know their names. To invite them to do things with me. To go and find the ones everyone has shunned and turned away. To see them as my neighbors even if we are in totally different places. You’ll be able to spot people who are becoming love because they want to build kingdoms, not castles. They fill their lives with people who don’t look like them or act like them or even believe the same things as them. They treat them with love and respect and are more eager to learn from them than presume they have something to teach.

There is only one invitation it would kill me to refuse, yet I'm tempted to turn it down all the time. I get the invitation every morning when I wake up to actually live a life of complete engagement, a life of whimsy, a life where love does. It doesn't come in an envelope. It's ushered in by a sunrise, the sound of a bird, or the smell of coffee drifting lazily from the kitchen. It's the invitation to actually live, to fully participate in this amazing life for one more day. Nobody turns down an invitation to the White House, but I've seen plenty of people turn down an invitation to fully live. Turning down this invitation comes in lots of flavors. It looks like numbing yourself or distracting yourself or seeing something really beautiful as normal. It can also look like refusing to forgive or not being grateful or getting wrapped around the axle with fear or envy. I think every day God sends us an invitation to live and sometimes we forget to show up or get head-faked into thinking we haven't really been invited. But you see, we have been invited -- every day, all over again

That’s our job. It’s always been our job. We’re supposed to just love the people in front of us. We’re the ones who tell them who they are. We don’t need to spend as much time as we do telling people what we think about what they’re doing. Loving people doesn’t mean we need to control their conduct. There’s a big difference between the two. Loving people means caring without an agenda. As soon as we have an agenda, it’s not love anymore. It’s acting like you care to get someone to do what you want or what you think God wants them to do. Do less of that, and people will see a lot less of you and more of Jesus.