The Lord Jesus Christ gave the proper pattern in the Gospel of John, chapter eight, verse thirty-two, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” What that truth is, is seen in the previous verse, “My Word.” God’s design is from truth to experience, not from experience to truth! The formula: “I have had an experience. I find experiences like mine in the Bible. Therefore my experience is Scriptural” is dangerously misleading.

— George Gardiner (1919–1984), Pastor, Autor und Konferenzsprecher

Related Bible passage: JHN.8.32

Topics: Freedom & Truth, The Bible & the Word of God

Occasions: For Reflection

All quotes by George Gardiner (2)

More on this topic

The Father’s love does not force itself on the beloved.

Henri Nouwen

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Martin Luther King Jr.

In essential unity; in nonessentials liberty; in all this charity.

Rupertus Meldenius

Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it.

Tim Keller

Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself one way or the other at all.

William Temple

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was yourself.

Diane H. Moody

Don't allow anybody to make you feel that you're nobody.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.

Søren Kierkegaard

All quotes · lumen.bible