Faith isn't about having everything figured out ahead of time; faith is about following the quiet voice of God without having everything figured out ahead of time.
Rachel Held EvansRead
Evangelicalism is like my religious mother tongue. I revert to it whenever I’m angry or excited or surrounded by other people who understand what I’m saying. And it’s the language in which I most often hear God’s voice on the rare occasion that it rises above the noise.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses how the speaker finds comfort and connection in their religious beliefs during emotional moments.
Rachel Held Evans describes evangelicalism as her primary mode of communication with God and a source of solace in times of strong emotion. She suggests that this religious framework offers her a familiar and comforting way to express herself, especially in the presence of others who share her beliefs, highlighting the deep connection between language, faith, and emotional experience.
Themes
EvangelicalismFaithLanguageComfortEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a sermon discussing the role of language in faith.
More from Rachel Held Evans
All quotes →While the word charity connotes a single act of giving, justice speaks to right living, of aligning oneself with the world in a way that sustains rather than exploits the rest of creation. Justice is not a gift; it’s a lifestyle, a commitment to the Jewish concept of tikkun olam—‘repairing the world.’
Rachel Held EvansRead
My friend Adele describes fundamentalism as holding so tightly to your beliefs that your fingernails leave imprints on the palm of your hand... I think she's right. I was a fundamentalist not because of the beliefs I held but because of how I held them: with a death grip. It would take God himself to finally pry them out of my hands. (p.17-18)
Rachel Held EvansRead
Similar quotes
No other religion, no other, promises new bodies, hearts, and minds. Only in the gospel of Christ do hurting people find such incredible hope.
Joni Eareckson TadaRead
The greatest miracle of the Bible is that the prophets of Israel could keep a religion as clean as a hounds tooth amid all the corruption and idolatry of the nations surrounding them.
Billy GrahamRead
If you seek His help, be sure your life is clean, your motives are worthy, and you're willing to do what He asks-for He will answer your prayers. He is your loving Father; you are His beloved child. He loves you perfectly and wants to help you.
Richard G. ScottRead
Since Christ is the only way to the Father, in order to highlight His living and saving presence in the Church and the world, the International Eucharistic Congress will take place in Rome, on the occasion of the Great Jubilee. The Year 2000 will be intensely Eucharistic: in the Sacrament of the Eucharist the Savior, who took flesh in Mary's womb twenty centuries ago, continues to offer Himself to humanity as the source of Divine Life
Pope John Paul IiRead
For every Christian, the proclamation and witnessing of the Gospel are never an isolated act. This is important. For every Christian the proclamation and witnessing of the Gospel are never an isolated or group act, and no evangelizers acts, as Paul VI reminded very well, "on the strength of a personal inspiration, but in union with the mission of the Church and in her name"
Pope FrancisRead
We are commanded to love God with all our minds, as well as with all our hearts, and we commit a great sin if we forbid or prevent that cultivation of the mind in others which would enable them to perform this duty.
Angelina GrimkeRead