{"quotes":[{"text":"If only you could be yourself.' they shouted. So, she did. 'You are not like me or anyone I have met!' they screamed. So, she blended. 'You are so fake.' they laughed. So, the caterpillar retreated to her cocoon to find peace alone. One day, they came to find her gone. She left a message, “God knew I was different and gave me these beautiful wings because he meant for me to fly. You see...I wasn’t meant to be like you. I was meant to be me--better.","author":"Shannon L. Alder","tags":["beauty","compassion","different","divergent","god-s-love","goodness","inner-light","kindness","love","loving-yourself","outer-and-inner-beauty","quality","self-confidence","self-respect","unique","wisdom"],"id":918,"author_id":"Shannon+L.+Alder"},{"text":"To reciprocate God’s love is to have the nature of love.","author":"Sunday Adelaja","tags":["god","god-s-love","love","nature","nature-of-love"],"id":1825,"author_id":"Sunday+Adelaja"},{"text":"It was as though God's hand was reaching down to Anna, and she was reaching her hands to Harvey and Joe, creating a circle of love.","author":"J.E.B. Spredemann","tags":["christ","circle-of-love","friendship","god","god-s-love","homeless","jesus","jesus-christ","love"],"id":5671,"author_id":"J.E.B.+Spredemann"},{"text":"Our lives, as short as they may be, are a test. And one of the biggest tests we can endure is how we respond to those moments when we don’t feel the presence of God in our lives. I believe deeply that one of God’s greatest gifts is to teach us there is a purpose behind every single one of our trials or problems.Treat them as a gift, an opportunity to move forward and draw closer to God. Problems often times compel us to look to God and count on him, rather than ourselves.","author":"Matt Patterson","tags":["christian","christianity","gifts","god","god-s-love","god-s-will","problems"],"id":7637,"author_id":"Matt+Patterson"},{"text":"The light of God's love makes us unique personalities.","author":"Sunday Adelaja","tags":["god-s-love","light"],"id":8199,"author_id":"Sunday+Adelaja"},{"text":"While the memory of guilt is far from pleasant (like 'wormwood and gall'), it has the curative intent of restoring us into an awareness of the constancy of God's love, new every morning. God's mercy is not spent even with our worst misdeeds.","author":"Thomas C. Oden","tags":["christianity","forgiveness","god-s-love","god-s-mercy","guilt","sin"],"id":9252,"author_id":"Thomas+C.+Oden"},{"text":"It's always too soon to quit! Believe in the goodness of God practically speaking.","author":"Eric C. Maynard","tags":["depression","god-s-love"],"id":13572,"author_id":"Eric+C.+Maynard"},{"text":"To be a mirror of God’s love is to show Jesus by one’s way of living.","author":"Sunday Adelaja","tags":["confidence","god-s-love","gratitude","mirror"],"id":13888,"author_id":"Sunday+Adelaja"},{"text":"There will always be someone willing to hurt you, put you down, gossip about you, belittle your accomplishments and judge your soul. It is a fact that we all must face. However, if you realize that God is a best friend that stands beside you when others cast stones you will never be afraid, never feel worthless and never feel alone.","author":"Shannon L. Alder","tags":["blessed","blown-off","confidence","cruel-people","cruelty","faith","fear","god-s-love","gossiped-about","hang-on","hurt","ignored","insecurity","jealousy","judgement","let-go","low-self-esteem","mean-people","move-on","name-calling","rejected","rumors","self-esteem","self-worth"],"id":17026,"author_id":"Shannon+L.+Alder"},{"text":"I experience religious dread whenever I find myself thinking that I know the limits of God’s grace, since I am utterly certain it exceeds any imagination a human being might have of it. God does, after all, so love the world.","author":"Marilynne Robinson","tags":["christianity","god","god-s-love","grace"],"id":23055,"author_id":"Marilynne+Robinson"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":218,"pages":22,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}