Larry Richards > Quotes

“At the end of our lives, we will be judged by how we have loved or failed to love. That is the ultimate test: how we dealt with the least of our brothers and sisters, the people we can’t stand.”
― Larry Richards, Surrender!: The Life-Changing Power of Doing God's Will

“only way you can prove you love God, and know this, gentlemen, is to obey Him. Period!”
― Larry Richards, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“I knew I had to please God, but I wasn’t trying to please Him for His sake, but for my own. I liked existing. The problem is, if the only reason we come to God and follow Him is because of fear of hell, then we are missing the point. Then who are we really loving? Ourselves! The idea that I only do what I do because I don’t want you to get mad at me is inherently selfish.”
― Larry Richards, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“One of the purposes of marriage is to do everything in your power to get your spouse and family to heaven. A husband is called to be his wife’s strength when she is tempted. It can be a sin to keep your mouth shut when the truth in love needs to be spoken.”
― Larry Richards, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“Remember, all sin is communal. All forgiveness is communal. So, if you’ve committed a mortal sin, such as missing Mass on Sunday, getting drunk on purpose, committing adultery, having an abortion, helping someone have an abortion, that hurts everybody, and you must be reconciled with God and reconciled with the Church.”
― Larry Richards, Surrender!: The Life-Changing Power of Doing God's Will

“My good friend Danny Abramowicz loves to tell men at men’s conferences: “Men, your kids will always love their mother, but they want to become just like you!” If we are not holy ourselves, then our families will not be holy. It is that simple. God is going to speak to men, women, and children, but He is speaking especially to men to help us be His very image.
You are the sacrament of Fatherhood to your children just like St. Joseph was the sacrament of Fatherhood to Jesus. Just as God used St. Joseph to form Jesus Christ in His humanity, so too does He want to use you to form your children. So I would encourage you before you read any further to stop and ask St. Joseph for his intercession for you so you can grow in holiness.”
― Larry Richards, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“It says in the Gospel of Matthew, “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (6:14-15).”
― Larry Richards, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“the people who love you love you in spite of all your bad qualities. The people who hate you, hate you in spite of all your good qualities. It all depends on what you decide to look at. We all have good. We all have bad. Every one of us.”
― Larry Richards, Surrender!: The Life-Changing Power of Doing God's Will

“STEPS TO SURRENDERING YOUR LIFE 1.  Ask God how He wants you to love and serve. Tell Him you will do anything that He asks. 2.  Write down the names of people you don’t like and start asking God to change your heart toward them so that you can love them the way He does. 3.  Become an intercessor and start praying for people. 4.  Learn to “offer things up.” Unite your suffering with the suffering of Christ and start transforming the world.”
― Larry Richards, Surrender!: The Life-Changing Power of Doing God's Will

“There is no way you or I can do God’s will if we do not forgive everyone who has hurt us. No excuses. No “everybody except for that one.” God says if you forgive, then I will forgive you. If you do not forgive, then I will not forgive you. Every time you say the Lord’s Prayer, you are saying, “Okay God, forgive me as I forgive.” So, if you are very forgiving, great job. You have nothing to worry about. If you are not very forgiving — not good — I’d worry a lot.”
― Larry Richards, Surrender!: The Life-Changing Power of Doing God's Will

“The world always wants to know who has the power, while GOD wants to know who is the servant.”
― Larry Richards, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“The road to hell is paved by good intentions.” We need to do whatever God asks. It’s as simple as that. Are we going to do God’s will even if we don’t want to? That’s the real question isn’t it? When”
― Larry Richards, Surrender!: The Life-Changing Power of Doing God's Will

“Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore You. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me. Tell me what I should do. Give me your orders. I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me and to accept all that you permit to happen to me. Let me only know Your will.”
― Larry Richards, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“Prayer for the Miracle of God’s Love3 Our Father, here I am, at your disposal, your child, use me to continue your loving the world, by giving Jesus to me and through me, to each other and to the world. Let us pray for each other, that we allow Jesus to love in us, and through us, with the love with which His Father loves Him. Amen. — BL. MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA”
― Larry Richards, Surrender!: The Life-Changing Power of Doing God's Will

“I tell people to always seek truth because truth will always lead you to GOD. The problem is too many people just are not interested in seeking truth. They just live for today.”
― Larry Richards, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“Lust can't wait to receive. Love cannot wait to give.”
― Larry Richards, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“In Matthew 25, Jesus makes it clear that whatever we do or fail to do to others, we do or fail to do to Him (see Mt 25:40). We cannot separate our love of God from love of neighbor. First John 4:20 says, “If any one says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar.” It was Dorothy Day who made this passage come alive for me when she said, “We love God as much as the person we like the least.” Think about the person you like the least. Get a good image of that person. It could be someone that you work with; it could be someone who hurt you, or a person that you cannot even stay in the same room with. As you are thinking of this person, you are probably thinking about how much you can’t stand to be around him. Maybe your blood pressure just rose a bit. Well, that is how much you love God!”
― Larry Richards, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“When you love someone, you are giving them permission to hurt you. When God tried to show us love, what did we do? We killed Him. When we love like Him, others will kill us too.”
― Larry Richards, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“In the midst of the darkness, we are called to be light.”
― Larry Richards, Surrender!: The Life-Changing Power of Doing God's Will

“Jesus replies, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:5).”
― Larry Richards, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“Isn’t it amazing that when you and I start doing things that are against the will of God, all it does is make us emptier? Every one of us has a hole inside of our heart and we are constantly trying to fill it up. We think if we try to fill it up with this or fill it up with that (you fill in the blanks) we’re going to be happy.”
― Larry Richards, Surrender!: The Life-Changing Power of Doing God's Will

“A lot of people never understand that our lives are about relationship. Sometimes it becomes just a ritual. Ritual without relationship is hypocrisy.”
― Larry Richards, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“Any dog can have sex, which is no big deal; but only a true man can share his soul with his wife, which always involves participation in the mystery of GOD.”
― Larry Richards, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be

“O, Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore You. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me. Tell me what I should do. Give me your orders. I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me and to accept all that you permit to happen to me. Let me only know Your will.”
― Larry Richards, Be a Man!: Becoming the Man God Created You to Be