Joel Osteen
You can be happy where you are.Collection: Happiness
Isn't it funny how babies laugh a lot? I read a toddler, a young child laughs 300 times a day. The average adult laughs, like, four times a day. God put it in them. He put the laugh in us, but I think sometimes we let life get us down, you know, have bad breaks, and we lose our breaks.Collection: Funny
Most people already know what they're doing wrong. When I get them to church I want to tell them that you can change.Collection: Change
If you want to reap financial blessings, you have to sow financially.Collection: Money
I'm going to let God be the judge of who goes to heaven and hell.Collection: God
When the negative thoughts come - and they will; they come to all of us - it's not enough to just not dwell on it... You've got to replace it with a positive thought.Collection: Positive
Some people keep God in a Sunday morning box and say, 'Hey, I did my religious duty.' That's fine, but the scripture says to pray without ceasing. And I think that means all through the day you're talking to God. Even if it's in your thoughts.Collection: Morning
I made a decision when my father passed away that I was going to be who God made me to be and not try to preach like my father.Collection: Dad
Why don't you start believing that no matter what you have or haven't done, that your best days are still out in front of you.Collection: Best
Do all you can to make your dreams come true.Collection: Dreams
Sometimes we look back and 10 years from now we think, 'Boy, those were great old days.' Well, you know, we're living in the good old days.Collection: Great
You have to come to your closed doors before you get to your open doors... What if you knew you had to go through 32 closed doors before you got to your open door? Well, then you'd come to closed door number eight and you'd think, 'Great, I got another one out of the way'... Keep moving forward.Collection: Great
This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do.
It's God's will for you to live in prosperity instead of poverty. It's God's will for you to pay your bills and not be in debt.
If you don't set the tone for the day, the devil will set it for you.
You can be committed to Church but not committed to Christ, but you cannot be committed to Christ and not committed to church.
You can live your life angry, bitter, mad at somebody or even guilty, not letting go of your own mistakes, but you won't receive the good things God has in store.
If one dream dies, dream another dream. If you get knocked down, get back up and go again.
I want the services to look and sound like the Grammys. It's not showy, but we represent God, and it should be first class.
If we're going to bring out the best in people, we, too, need to sow seeds of encouragement.
You may make some mistakes - but that doesn't make you a sinner. You've got the very nature of God on the inside of you.
You'll never rise any higher than the way you see yourself.
Everybody is going to have their critics. It's easy to get discouraged in life.
We need to show mercy. I mean, because as much mercy as you show people, that's the mercy you're going to be receiving.
Don't ever criticize yourself. Don't go around all day long thinking, 'I'm unattractive, I'm slow, I'm not as smart as my brother.' God wasn't having a bad day when he made you... If you don't love yourself in the right way, you can't love your neighbour. You can't be as good as you are supposed to be.
We think when God speaks to us, there's going to be a boom out of Heaven or we're going to get some chill bumps, but I really believe God's talking to us all the time. He's talking to us right in here. I call it our heart, our conscience, but it's the Holy Spirit talking to us.
The death of my father is probably the biggest thing that I ever faced. Daddy and I were best friends.
There's plenty about God that I don't understand and can't explain. But I come back to my core belief that God is good, that He's for us.
When I grew up, the Devil was a reason why I had a headache or the Devil was the reason I got mad today. We always blamed the Devil. I think today when I say the Enemy, I like to make it broader. Sometimes the Enemy can be our own thoughts.
Sometimes we look at gay being a bigger sin than being proud or not telling the truth. I don't think God categorizes sins.
Let go of offence. Let go of fear. Let go of revenge. Don't live angry, let go now!
Don't grow accustomed to living with less, doing less, and being less to the point that you eventually sit back and accept it.
The older I get, the better I understand that every day is a gift.
I always want to listen to people and receive good criticism, but I just don't have to answer to them; I have to answer to God.
I want get across to not just the church world. I want to get outside those walls to everyday people.
I think sometimes the critics want me to beat people down, and that's not in me. I want to lift people up.
I'm trying to make God more relevant in our society. And I think talking in everyday terms and making sure people can understand it - I think that's important.
So many people are looking at what's wrong, and I try to encourage them to look at what's right in their life. A lot of people have it a lot worse than you do.
I don't argue when people say that my message is simple, but I believe Jesus' message was simple. Jesus didn't go around condemning people.
It's flattering to people who stop you and say that you've helped them and all. But, again, you know, you've got to stay humble because as quick as you came up, you can come down.
We need to, you know, restore people. We need to show mercy. I mean, because as much mercy as you show people, that's the mercy you're going to be receiving.
When I used to play sports, I'd be the one cheering the team on, 'Come on, we can beat these guys!' That's just in me.
I believe God's keeping the records, and I believe you will be rewarded even in this life. Somehow, some way, God will make it up to you. It may be He protected you from an accident you never knew. You can't give God something without God giving you more in return, whether it's peace or joy or satisfaction.
I think God gives every one of us our own will, and unfortunately, some people choose to do evil things with it.
I don't mind saying, you know, that I don't take a salary from the church, and God has blessed me with more money than I could imagine from my books. It's been printed all over, so I don't feel like I am hiding anything.
Sometimes you need faith and victory spoken over your life. Words have created power. When you receive them into your spirit, they can ignite seeds of increase on the inside.
You were not created to just get by with an average, unrewarding, or unfulfilling life. God created you to leave your mark on this generation.
My belief as a Christian is when we receive Christ as salvation, that that gives us a guarantee for Heaven.
I try to live what I teach. A lot of things come against us in life, but we should try to find something to be grateful for, and see each day as a gift.