In faith and spiritual growth, "The Cost of Discipleship" emerges as a profound beacon of guidance, illuminating the path towards genuine devotion and unwavering commitment. Written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a theologian who lived a life dedicated to his beliefs, the book dives deep into the concept of discipleship, exploring the sacrifices and profound responsibilities that come with it.
Amidst the complexities of modern living, where distractions and pursuits often divert our attention, the "cost of discipleship" notion calls for introspection and a genuine evaluation of our convictions. The quotes that emanate from Bonhoeffer's work encapsulate the essence of these ideas, serving as thought-provoking reminders of the sacrifices, responsibilities, and joys that come with a life dedicated to one's beliefs.
The Cost of Discipleship Quotes (2024)
A profound exploration of faith and commitment unfolds within the pages of "The Cost of Discipleship" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. These quotes capture the essence of the book's central themes, delving into the challenges, sacrifices, and unwavering dedication that define true discipleship.
"Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
"Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus. It comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The followers of Jesus are to be different and not just in some minimal sense, but in the most profound way possible." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
"Discipleship is not an offer that man makes to Christ." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God's will." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Discipleship means adherence to Christ, and, because Christ is the object of that adherence, it must take the form of discipleship." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which has to be asked for, the door at which a man must knock." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Suffering, then, is the badge of true discipleship." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The Christian is the man who no longer seeks his salvation, his deliverance, his justification in himself, but in Jesus Christ alone." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"In normal life, we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
"The will of God, to which the law gives expression, is that men should defeat their enemies by loving them." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"When all is said and done, the life of faith is nothing if not an unending struggle of the spirit with every available weapon against the flesh." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"God's truth judges created things out of love, and Satan's truth judges them out of envy and hatred." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The Christian stands by Christ even when he feels the need to stand by himself." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Gratitude changes the pangs of memory into a tranquil joy." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The will of God is not a system of rules which is established from the outset; it is something new and different in each different situation in life." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Human love is directed to the other person for his own sake, spiritual love loves him for Christ's sake." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Faith is only real when there is obedience, never without obedience." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The essence of optimism is that it takes no account of the present, but it is a source of inspiration, of vitality, and hope where others have resigned." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Only in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ has God's love been revealed as pure gift, unconditional and undeserved." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The messengers of Jesus will be hated to the end of time. They will be blamed for all the division which rend cities and homes." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Earthly goods are given to be used, not to be collected." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The death of Christ is the proclamation of the fact that all the barriers are broken down now." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
"The essence of worldly wisdom is doing as much as you can and still preserving your freedom of action." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"No one has yet believed in God and the kingdom of God, no one has yet heard about the realm of the resurrected, and not been homesick from that hour." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"There is a kind of listening with half an ear that presumes already to know what the other person has to say." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God's will." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The followers of Jesus are to be different and not just in some minimal sense, but in the most profound way possible." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Do not try to make the Bible relevant. Its relevance is axiomatic. Do not defend God's word, but testify to it." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Grace is the result of God seeking us. Our works are the result of us seeking God." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Discipleship means adherence to Christ, and, because Christ is the object of that adherence, it must take the form of discipleship." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Being a Christian means bearing the promise of God in the midst of a godless world." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Nothing that we despise in other men is inherently absent from ourselves." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Through the medium of prayer, God allows us the privilege of participating in his work." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"When God calls a man, he bids him come and die." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more will everything else between us recede." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Christ did not, like the servant, bring his disciples together in one single and commonplace but calls them where they are." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
"Faith is only real when there is obedience, never without obedience." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
"If we want to be Christians, we must have some share in Christ's large-heartedness by acting with responsibility and in freedom when the hour of danger comes." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The call of Jesus teaches us that our relation to the world has been built on an illusion." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The disciple simply burns his boats and goes ahead." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"For faith is only real when there is obedience, never without obedience, and faith only becomes faith in the act of obedience." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"By judging others, we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The messengers of Jesus will be hated to the end of time. They will be blamed for all the division which rend cities and homes." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The first service that one owes to others in the fellowship consists in listening to them." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Destruction of every good is evil for the doer." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"There are three possible ways in which the church can act toward the state: ask the state for the freedom to perform its functions; take it for these functions; or ignore these functions." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The world will allow itself to be subdued only by the church's humility, never by her arrogance." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Earthly goods are given to be used, not to be collected." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The essence of Christian living is in accepting forgiveness, and forgiveness is acceptance." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"It is easier for the Christian to keep his independence in the face of every accusation than for him to keep his humility in the face of his own friend." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness, and pride of power, and with its plea for the weak." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The Christian stands by Christ even when he feels the need to stand by himself." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"A community of Jesus which seeks to hide itself has ceased to follow him." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"There is no way from one person to another." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The community of the saints is not an 'ideal' community consisting of perfect and sinless men and women, where there is no need of further repentance." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
"A pastor should not complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The exclusion of the weak and insignificant, the seemingly useless people, from a Christian community may actually mean the exclusion of Christ." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The Christian life is participation in Christ's suffering, the Christian community is his suffering community." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Jesus' call to bear the cross places all who follow him in the community of the forgiveness of sins." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The cross of Christ is the gate to heaven." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"We are not alone in the world; our life is a gift of God, not of ourselves." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"In the presence of Christ, a man has to justify his right to live, to bear witness to himself, to testify to his right." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The lost sheep finds its shepherd only when it is lost." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"God lets himself be pushed out of the world onto the cross." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The summons to follow Christ have nothing to do with a cult of the extraordinary. They are simple, straightforward commands." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Faith is the act of a finite being who is grasped by and turned to the infinite." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Human love constructs its own image of the other person, of what he is and what he should become." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The knowledge of good and evil seems to be the aim of all ethical reflection. The first task of Christian ethics is to refuse to acknowledge that." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Only where hands are not too good for deeds of love and mercy in everyday helpfulness can the mouth joyfully and convincingly proclaim the message of God's love and mercy." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
"It is not a work which we do, but a work which Christ does in us." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The daily task should be the center of our lives." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The cross is not the end of a pious, happy life. Instead, it stands at the beginning of community with Jesus Christ." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Christ calls us to come and die - to die to our self-centeredness, our need to be right, our need to be in control." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. In the end, all his disciples deserted him. On the cross, he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Whoever cannot be alone should beware of community. Whoever cannot stand being in community should beware of being alone." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Faith is the certainty of God's love." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"To believe is to obey." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The road of faith is not the safe way." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"You can only learn what obedience is by obeying." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The life of discipleship can only be maintained so long as nothing is allowed to come between Christ and ourselves." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The silence of suffering, the silence of the cross, will reveal the mystery of the love of God." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"The call of Jesus to deny oneself, take up the cross, and follow him is the most revolutionary demand ever made upon the human race." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
In the journey of faith, where the road can often be challenging and demanding, "The Cost of Discipleship quotes" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer serve as guiding lights. These profound words remind us that following Christ is not merely a passive endeavor but an active commitment that requires us to embrace the cross, deny ourselves, and embody love in our actions.
In a world often consumed by self-interest, Bonhoeffer's teachings challenge us to consider the higher calling of discipleship. "The Cost of Discipleship quotes" resonate with a call to action, inspiring us to be hearers of the Word and active participants in its transformative power. These quotes encapsulate the essence of living a life of faith marked by sacrifice, love, and a willingness to follow Christ's example, even when the path is steep.
