Jamie Ivey > Quotes

“When we hide the mess we've been through, we also hide the redemption that God has lavishly poured on us. We can't proclaim His grace until we expose our mess.”
― Jamie Ivey, If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free

“We need to be creating a culture in our churches where people feel the freedom to confess their sins BECAUSE WE HAVE JESUS. We need to be creating a culture where people are expected to come regularly to each other in repentance BECAUSE WE HAVE JESUS. We need to be creating a culture where people can talk about their struggles BECAUSE WE HAVE JESUS.”
― Jamie Ivey, If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free

“If you aren’t a follower of Jesus, know that He isn’t asking you to get your life together before you follow Him. He wants us to follow Him, worship Him, and give Him our all. And when we do that, our life does start to get together.”
― Jamie Ivey, If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free

“But I guarantee, you will let people down less often when they expect you to make mistakes than when you're maintaining the illusion of being practically flawless. You'll have a much easier time giving people grace, and you'll learn that nothing in life is better than receiving grace.”
― Jamie Ivey, If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free

“God has set up community to be a place where we remind each other of His faithfulness to us. Where we remind each other of all that God has done in our lives, and as we tell each other, our hearts start to believe more and more that what His Word says is true. We have the history of God to bank on. He can be nothing but faithful to His children—it’s a part of His character. He can be nothing but kind to His children—it’s a part of His character. He can be nothing but full of grace to those who follow Him—it’s a part of His character. I”
― Jamie Ivey, If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free

“You are loved by God, no matter how you are feeling right now or what you have been through.”
― Jamie Ivey, If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free

“We cannot teach our kids to give their lives away for the Gospel when all they see is us giving away our lives for them.”
― Jamie Ivey

“When you walk around feeling as though you need to forgive yourself, what you're saying to God is that His sacrifice wasn't enough. His only Son dying on a cross for your sins wasn't enough. More is needed for you to feel forgiven. So, by your continual yearning to forgive yourself, you are actually creating a life where Jesus' blood and sacrifice aren't enough, leaving yourself essentially a works-based religion to follow, where if you could just do a few more "good things," you could possibly begin to forgive yourself.”
― Jamie Ivey, If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free

“Her biggest sin wasn’t her five husbands and all the other junk we know of her from Scripture. Her biggest sin was unbelief. And that’s what Jesus came to deal with. To offer her “living water.” He is more concerned with drawing our hearts toward Him, not getting us put together enough so that we’re capable of coming to Him.”
― Jamie Ivey, If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free

“God wasn’t limited to getting glory from what Paul had finally become; He also received glory from what He’d done with the poor choices Paul had made all along. God had chosen Paul to be a vessel of the gospel before the beginning of time. Nothing that Paul said or did was a surprise to God, yet it was all being used to bring God glory. All of it.”
― Jamie Ivey, If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free

“God didn’t choose you and then find out about all your mistakes. He knew about your sin and chose you to be His daughter anyway.”
― Jamie Ivey, If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free

“If we're not careful, our whole identity can be wrapped up in what other people think we're supposed to be or what we think we're supposed to do.”
― jamie ivey, If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free

“It's not our job to forgive ourselves. We can't. We don't have the power. We don't have the ability. We don't have the right standing with God for that. Forgive ourselves? Really? How would anybody actually go about doing that? If you could forgive yourself, there would be no need for Jesus, right? And if there's no need for Jesus, then this whole Christianity thing is false and we have wasted our lives.”
― Jamie Ivey, If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free

“When we hide the mess we’ve been through, we also hide the redemption that God has lavishly poured on us. We can’t proclaim His grace until we expose our mess.”
― Jamie Ivey, If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free

“When you’re trying to have important heart conversations with a 2 or 4 year old and it feels like nothing is getting through, just remember – you are seeing the precedent. You are introducing the vocabulary, the concepts, for them to one day get it. You are making a difference.”
― Jamie Ivey, If You Only Knew: My Unlikely, Unavoidable Story of Becoming Free

“But in every circumstance, God will still have a calling for you—a way for you to be you, in Him. And whatever that calling of yours is, the path that takes you there is faithfulness.”
― Jamie Ivey, You Be You: Why Satisfaction and Success Are Closer Than You Think

“Look at Him! Look at all the ways He has used me in spite of my stupidity. Look at all the ways He has endured with me, even through my many self-inflicted sorrows in life. Look at all the ways He has blessed me, even when others would have given up on me. I want to constantly shout, 'JESUS IS BETTER!”
― Jamie Ivey