Best 48 quotes of Michael W. Smith on MyQuotes

But I know God has big stuff planned that ultimately doesn't have anything to do with me.

For some reason, and for a time such as this, God has given me favor with kings and princes.

Friends are friends forever. If the Lord's the Lord of them, a friend will not say never 'cause the welcome will not end. Although it's hard to let you go, in the Father's hands we know, a lifetime's not too long to live as friends.

Friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them.

God deserves the best from us.

I believe people are afraid to be still because we're used to being stimulated.

I'm actually the chairman of the historical foundation [in Franklin] called the Heritage Foundation in Franklin. We've got a pretty good group of folks, very influential folks, who are really striving to protect those lands and so far we're not having a lot of problems. We're growing too fast. Everybody wants to put up some sort of neighborhood but that's our biggest battle. Nobody's really trying to go on any of the historical land.

I'm always trying to challenge everyone to raise the game on the artistic level. We are supposed to be the best. Make sure we don't get complacent or comfortable, and always trying to push the limit on trying to write great songs. At the end of the day it's why we do what we do.

I'm really passionate about the song Sky Spills Over. It was fun creating it in the studio and I've been overwhelmed at the response it gets when we perform it live every night. My son Ryan is a really talented filmmaker so I always enjoy working with him on a project. But what made this project even more special was that 3 of my own grandkids were in the video. This video was a lot of fun to make. I hope people enjoy it!

In Christ we are given the courage and strength to change the world

In terms of worship, I think we ought to have the right people leading.

I think if Jesus came for the first time, and he was 33 1/2 years old and hung out with these guys, where would he be? They'd probably be at a coffee bar getting a latte or something.

I think if the church did what they were supposed to do we wouldn't have anyone sleeping on the streets.

I think it all comes down to relationships - how I treat my wife, how I treat my kids, how I treat the guys at the grocery store, all aspects of every day, what I'm involved in.

I think music is my destiny. I want to commit myself for what God called me to do.

I think one of my greatest gifts is leading worship.

I think The Big Picture was such a huge shift from my second record.

I think the people that enjoyed Freedom will love this one; and I actually think some of the unique musical twists this project is taking will open it up to a whole new audience as well.

I think worship is a lifestyle, first of all.

It's really interesting to go back to '93 or '94 and listen to that music, like the I'll Lead You Home record

I've changed a lot but I'm still Smitty. Hopefully I'm more mature and I'm a little wiser, and I plan on by the grace of God finishing well, and I'm more passionate than I ever have been in my life.

I've explored the worship side, the pop side, and the film scoring side of me.

I've said to others that there were places I had forgotten about that were just so powerful. I've read the Gospels many times, but it's been a while since I've read through a whole book

Just look at the Old Testament. They didn't go out with the army first. They sent the musicians out.

Look at what Billy Graham has done, he's a legend. He would never tell you that, but look at the history, all the way back to the L.A. Crusades in the 50s, all around the world, starting a youth night in 94 that I got to be such a huge part of. This guy has changed the world with the gospel.

Love isn't love until you give it away.

Love will fan the flame, and that flame will warm the heart that's waiting.

More love, more power, more of You in my life. I will worship You with all of my heart, I will worship You with all of my mind, I will worship You with all of my strength, for You are my Lord.

People are brutal. Just to each other.

So I'm taking a stand-and I hope others will-to really live what I believe and embrace who I am in Jesus Christ.

Some of the most powerful times are when we're quiet

There are a lot of bad worship songs, in my opinion, but there are a lot of good ones, too

There's a beauty on the inside of you - and it shows on the outside too.

Things change when you give your life to serving God, and that can be scary.

This fall I'm doing something I've never done before. I'm starring in a film, an independent film.

This Is Your Time, This Is Your Dance. Live Every Moment, Leave Nothing To Chance. Swim In The Sea. Drink Of The Deep, Embrace The Mystery Of All You Could Be. What if Tomorrow? And What If Today? Faced With The Question, Oh What Would You Say?

Transformation in the world happens when people are healed and start investing in other people.

We were engaged three-and-a-half weeks after the first date.

With faith and love God's given, springing from the hope we know. We will pray the joy you'll live in, is the strength that now you show.

Born as we are into a fallen race of sinners, we all tend to be selfish. We want things our way. We want what we want when we want it. Good parents do their best to train and discipline that selfishness out of us, and good teachers and pastors reinforce the lesson. But that self-centered tendency is deep-rooted, and it almost always requires hand-to-hand combat in the arena of life where the wants of self are pitted against the needs of others. Marriage and family provides this arena. Family is the perfect challenge to selfishness. Living in a family demands that I be sensitive to the needs of others. It demands my time. It intrudes on my wants. It tramples my ego. It virtually obliterates the concept of leisure. What a blessing! No, I'm not being facetious; these duties are truly blessings. Without such duties, we would become utterly self-centered, egotistical, and narcissistic- all of which are deadly because focus on self alienates us from God. Facing up to our duties beats down selfishness and forms godly character by challenging the supremacy of self. Let me be quick to say that marriage and family are not the only means of beating down the curse of selfishness. Many single people and childless couples are truly godly in character, compassionate, loving, and unselfish in all their doings. But I think marriage and family provide a rewarding means of dealing with selfishness because the glue that holds us to it when we'd rather bail out is love.

Far from being a way to achieve success, ease, and comfort, Christianity calls us to live a life that forgets self and focuses on being God's instrument to show his love to others.

God created us in his own image. Of course, that doesn't mean we can be God as he is; it means we can become a little duplicates of him. We won't achieve the glorious potential God has in store for us if we keep our eyes lower to the mirror of merely what is; we must lift them to the window of what can be. That's why the anti-heroes of today's entertainment can hurt us they keep us glued to the mirror instead of the window. If we want to do more than just drift along in the cultural stream, it helps to search up models of goodness, purity, honor, character, and courage, both in our entertainment and in real life... The great advantage to having such heroes is that they don't badger us into changing; they inspire us to want to change.

I fear that we are being led to become morally lazy. Our affluence has given many of us almost immediate access to virtually anything we want. We have grown comfortable with indulgence, and we don't want to feel guilty about it. Guilt prods us toward the hard work of changing. That's why we want our heroes to be flawed like we are. They assure us that our weaknesses, addictions, moral lapses, and compromises are not unusual. Such heroes become mirrors reflecting a comfortable image that says, Hey, don't get so uptight about your failures and lapses. We're all like this.

If you are a Christ follower, the evil one is after you. When you signed on for Christ, you enlisted in a great war. You became a combatant in a titanic battle for spiritual dominion that has been going on since before Adam and Eve. The enemy has marked you for annihilation, and his demonic armies are aiming their big guns right at your heart. Satan wants you to stumble and fall. He wants your failure to cause others to think that Christianity is empty of meaning and powerless to change lives. If he can tempt you to forget whose side you're on just for a moment... if Satan can get you to forget your commitment to holiness for just that moment, he may bring down not only you, but others who are watching you. It's a serious thing to be a follower of Jesus. We must find ourselves in a state of constant dependency on him. We must ask God for his strength to overcome the evil one and resist such temptations.

I think we can safely say that you'll never find joy in making yourself into something God didn't intend. You will find joy only in being all he wants you to be. The apostle Paul gives us the key in Romans 8:28: "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God *and are called according to his purpose for them*" (NLT; emphasis added). God has a purpose for you, and he calls you to it. If you don't hear that call, the way to receive the blessing it promises is to clear from your mind the clutter of your own desires. Then pray, counsel, and listen until God's will becomes clear.

... it's not realistic to think we can fill our minds with corrupting images yet hang on to what we know is right. When we continually expose our minds to the standards of the culture, those standards begin to seep into our lives. The fatal change comes so gradually that, like the frog in the kettle, we don't even notice it. First we are no longer shocked by evil. Then we become accustomed to it. Then we tolerate it. Then it's only a tiny step to accept it as normal.

My guess is that you have, at times, unwittingly prayed for adversity. Think about it. What are you asking for when you pray for patience? You are probably asking for trying situation that will demand that you be patient. What are you asking for when you pray for humility? It's likely you are asking for your ego to be brought down a few notches. What are you asking for when you pray for more reliance on God? Well, you may be asking for God to take away those things you rely on instead of him. When you pray for God's blessings, you are praying for the kind of character that will desire to be holy and do what it takes to get there. Whether you realize it or not, you may be praying for some form of adversity that God will use like an obstacle course to condition you into a strong and fit soldier for his service.

We have the assurance that God's grace is sufficient for us, freeing us from the bondage of legalism. We are no longer locked up by a sense of duty; instead we are compelled to holy living by his great love for us. Because of this grace we are free to live our lives in a way that reflects his purity. We can refuse to lower the bar in order to justify our failure. We will never grow into the glorious creatures God knows we can be unless we keep his high standard as our goal, not the standards culture sets for what is righteous and what isn't. We can increase our capacity for obedience to God's leading by keeping our eyes and ears attuned to what is good, lovely, uplifting, encouraging, and positive.