Inspirational Quotes by Neil T. Anderson

“It is not what we do that determines who we are. It is who we are that determines what we do.”

“It’s up to you to choose whether you’re going to use your body, which includes your brain, for sin or for the sake of righteousness.”

“Before we received Christ, we were slaves to sin. But because of Christ’s work on the cross, sin’s power over us has been broken. Satan has no right of ownership or authority over us. He is a defeated foe, but he is committed to keeping us from realizing that. He knows he can block your effectiveness as a Christian if he can deceive you into believing that you are nothing but a product of your past, subject to sin, prone to failure, and controlled by your habits.”

“Is who you are determined by what you do, or is what you do determined by who you are?”

“Believers have both the authority to do God’s will because of their position in Christ, and the power to do God’s will as long as they walk by the Spirit.”

“You don’t become a Christian by acting like one. You are not on a performance basis with God. He doesn’t say, “Here are My standards, now you measure up.” He knows you can’t solve the problem of an old sinful self by simply improving your behavior. He must change your nature, give you an entirely new self—the life of Christ in you—which is the grace you need to measure up to His standards.”

“The Basis of Temptation Because Adam sinned, every person is born into this world physically alive and spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1). Since from birth we had neither the presence of God nor the knowledge of His ways, we learned to live our lives independent of God. Rather than having our needs met through a living relationship with our loving heavenly Father, we sought to meet our own needs. We developed patterns of thought and habits of behavior which centered our interests on ourselves. When we were born again we became spiritually alive, but our self-centered flesh patterns and mental strongholds remained opposed to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Consequently we are still tempted to look to the world, the flesh, and the devil to meet our basic needs and carnal desires instead of looking to Christ, who promises to meet all our needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19). Every temptation is an enticement to live independently of God. The power of temptation is directly related to the strength of the mental strongholds and the carnal desires which were developed when we learned to live independently of God. For example, if you were raised in a Christian home where dirty magazines and television programs of questionable moral value were not allowed, the power of sexual temptations in your life will not be as great as for someone who grew up exposed to pornographic materials. The person who was raised in an environment of immorality and sexual permissiveness will experience a greater struggle with sexual temptation after becoming a Christian simply because these mental strongholds were well-established before he was born again. You are less likely be tempted to commit some gross immorality if your legitimate needs to be loved and accepted were met by caring parents who also protected you from exposure to the values of this fallen world.”

“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another” (Gal. 5:17). They are in opposition because the Holy Spirit, like Jesus, will not operate independently of our heavenly Father, but the flesh does. The flesh may be defined as existence apart from God—a life dominated by sin or a drive opposed to God. The flesh is self-reliant rather than God-dependent; it is self-centered rather than Christ-centered.”

“Authority does not increase with volume. We”

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that is left on the heel that crushed the violet.”

“AS BELIEVERS, WE ARE NOT TRYING TO BECOME SAINTS; WE ARE SAINTS WHO ARE BECOMING LIKE CHIRST.”

“The major strategy of Satan is to distort the character of God and the truth of who we are. He can’t change God and he can’t do anything to change our identity and position in Christ. If, however, he can get us to believe a lie, we will live as though our identity in Christ isn’t true.”

“The Bible says we were dead in our “trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1) and “were by nature children of wrath” (2:3, emphasis added). In other words, we were born physically alive but spiritually dead. We had neither the presence of God in our lives nor the knowledge of His ways.”

“The fruit of the Spirit is not spouse control or staff control or environmental control; it is self-control (see Gal. 5:23).”

“Being submissive does not mean that we don’t give honest feedback.”

“You can’t bring an accusation against a pastor simply because you do not like him.”

“Just because a pastor does well in one situation does not guarantee he or she will do well in another.”

“Moses never called for a committee when the Egyptians were breathing down his neck.”

“The problem is you don't know what your problem is. You think your problem is your main problem, but that's not the problem at all. The problem is you don't know what your problem is and that's your main problem.”

“We are not sinners in the hands of an angry God; we are saints who sin in the hands of a loving God.”