Quotes by T. D. Jakes

Ignorance is brought about by assumption.

Forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself.

Salvation is the root-the resurrection is the fruit.

If you always do what you've always done, you'll always be where you've always been.

The challenge of the believer is to take the faith that you got in here and take it to the place out there.

Instead of loaves of bread, many times God gives out handfuls of purpose.

The art of avoiding extremes is an art that is drawn on the canvas of maturity and painted with the abstract strokes of many experiences.

Excellence requires discomfort.

I'm not particularly political. I'm not particularly denominational. I'm not worried about any of that.

I don't dislike anybody. I love everybody.

And another thing is that I think as a church whenever we become politically driven, we alienate at least 50 percent of the people that God called us to reach with our political orientations.

Greatness is contagious...You'll catch it if you get around it.

There may be challenges or crosses that may have delayed your goals temporarily, but now it's time to move forward.

It's better to gather in righteousness than fellowship with darkness.

How you think about your opportunities determines how you will act on them.

Faith is the substance of whatever it is that we hope for. The important thing is that we teach that faith is connected to good works and responsibility.

A church that focuses on the external has lost its passion for souls.

May the passion to be all that God wants you to be sweep across your soul like a gentle breeze.

The real harvest of life is the outworking of the internal. If there's nothing in there, there's nothing to work out.

One of the great healing balms of the Holy Spirit is forgiveness. To forgive is to break the link between you and your past.

I actually grew up playing the piano in the church and was deeply involved in music ministry.

The methodologies are always different but the message should be the same.

When there's no turning back, your instincts will lead you forward.

We have a tendency to want the other person to be a finished product while we give ourselves the grace to evolve.

The low-grade plagiarism of popularity will never lead you to true contentment.

God is not preparing the Blessing for YOU, He is preparing YOU for the Blessing.

Really, when you get down to racism, in or out of the church, it's a heart issue. It's not a head issue. When we actually get to experience each other's ministry, and each other's struggle, and each other's pain, there's a much greater sensitivity.

If you can disappoint yourself as much as you love yourself and you still manage to disappoint yourself then why are you shocked when other people that you love disappoint you.

I believe it is our attitude that determines our altitude. It is our attitude that allows us to soar above those things that would otherwise overcome us.

When you were built to be tall, you will endanger your position if you lower your perspective.

You cannot rush God's timing.
When the Lord speaks a word into your life, it is like a seed. Is your confidence in God's seed?

My views about hell are very traditional.

My children are now adults and just kind of guide them while they allow you to have input in their lives without controlling them the way you did when they were toddlers. These are good steps to use for fathers at each step of their children's lives.

I started my ministry when I was 19, I was pastoring at 22 and I got married when I was 24, so I was building at such a young age and that fight, that dream and tenacity is still in me.

I don't care how fancy you wrap trash, it's still trash.

I think the thing that people do wrong today is that they pray for external validation.

Worship plays a major role in the Christian daily life. Throughout Scripture we see worship from David dancing before the Lord to Jesus rejoicing in the Spirit.

You can wreck your future running from your past.

Both success and struggle are different kinds of trauma.

There are some fires you can't get out of- you've got to go through the fire -- you've got to go through the flood -- you've got to go through the test -- you've got to go through the struggle that you might decrease and he might increase.

Whenever you face obstacles, crises and dilemmas and your confidence is in your associates more than in God- it is a sign your faith is deteriorating.

Prayer will get you out of a pinch, prayer will get you out of a crises, prayer will get you out of your dilemma, prayer will get you out of your trouble.

If only we could realize that our purpose is to be caretakers. We are responsible for leading our flock to the place where the grass is green, but it is up to them to eat! We cannot be responsible for how much they digest. We cannot make people mature.

One of the things about my ministry is that I have never branded myself as being above the people or superior to people.

The traditional churches are having to transition into new methodologies and new ways of reaching people and they are starting to understand that and looking for ways they can increase their relevance to the contemporary society.

A whole woman will always attract a whole man. And when they touch, they will fuse to create a whole marriage. Ultimately, when the time is right, they will produce whole children.

The most wonderful thing in the world is somebody who knows who they are and knows where they're going and knows what they were created to do.

When it comes to bringing an idea that God has given you to fruition, don't wait for it to happen again, you have to get out there and make it happen.

There are rooms for traditional and contemporary and hip hop Gospel music.

I believe God promotes you when you graduate from the level that you're on.

Being angry is human. Staying angry is foolish.

You can't be who you are going to be and who you used to be at the same time.

My mother would take the Band-Aid off, clean the wound, and say, Things that are covered don't heal well. Mother was right. Things that are covered do not heal well.

You can't just be a recipient of a blessing, you have to do something to make it happen.

The standard is the standard and whomever walks in the door at the time I need a person in that position who can do that job with excellence and who understands my vision, if they can fulfill it, they got the job whether they're young, old, black, white, male or female.

How can we teach our children to respect Black women if Black women don't respect Black women?

No one keeps the container, they always keep the product.

The world is a university and everyone in it is a teacher. Make sure when you wake up in the morning you go to school.

It's a culture shock to go from obscurity to notoriety in a flash. Its more to it than talent and money; its pressure, stress, enemies, critics; you have to develop relationships and a team. There are all of these things that go along with taking a leap and following your dreams.

Some of the best people with whom you can have a relationship are the people who challenge your thinking.

I don't care how cheap the box is that you put a diamond ring in, nothing about the box diminishes the value of the content.

The brilliance of morning is in sharp contrast with the darkness of night -- Woman thou art loosed.

I can give you the tools to reach the dreams you have inside.

You don't know how much you've grown- until trouble comes back for an encore.

Contentment comes when you find the people, places, and events in life you were created to impact.

Sometimes what makes us insecure and vulnerable becomes the fuel we need to be overachievers. The antidote for a snakebite is made from the poison, and the thing that made you go backward is the same force that will push you forward.

All over this nation, all over this world there are people going to church today and they say they are believers, but until you can take what you've been taught and bring it to the place you gave up -- you will never be the radical believer that you need to be for the times in which we live.

When God blesses you, don't let no devil in hell move you out of your place of blessing!

God's grace and mercy have brought you through. Quit acting as if you made it on your own.

God's grace is painted on the canvas of despair.

Your greatest failure will precede your greatest success.

Once you have confidence in your instincts, you must never allow other people's refusal to believe, or their data to refute, what you instinctively know is true.

I think, when we start dealing with heaven or hell issues, what we really need to gravitate toward is that man is an eternal spirit. And if you believe that he is an eternal spirit then all it does, it abandons the body.

There's something you learn from helping other people with their dreams that prepares you for your own.

Children are not unforgiving. You can punish them and they will hug you in a few minutes.

You cannot have a private relationship in a public arena. You must look to an inner circle of people who really know you. Don't expect to have that kind of intimate relationship with people who only know you publicly. Do not seek to be understood by the world.

Nobody wants to stand behind a parked car. You got to always follow somebody who keeps it moving.

To be unforgiving is like to drink poison and wait for someone else to die! Rev. TD Jakes (have I said how much I love ya!).

Its not over, until the Lord says its over.

Your latter days are supposed to be greater than your former days.

My father was a Methodist and my mother was a Baptist.

Basic Instincts It's the way mother birds build nests, and build them high enough to elude.

If you're gifted enough, nappy hair, gap teeth, acne face -- I don't care what it is, greatness will shine through anything!

If you can learn to love the imperfect people in your family then it's possible that someone can learn to love a imperfect you.

If you have the capacity to be more than one thing , do everything that's inside of you.

If you think down, you will go down. If you think up, you will go up. You'll always travel in the direction of your thinking.

Not everyone will be happy when you begin to better yourself. Those who are for you will not just celebrate in your triumphs, but they will also pray with you through your tribulations.

Don't come into the presence of God to impress Him with something He gave you!

To those of us who often procrastinate on the decision we feel intimidated by lack of education or any area of weakness. I relieve you with this statement: It is not how much you know that arms you with the tools of great decision making, but rather how much you ask. Ask questions.

What woman would not appreciate a God who becomes her attorney, assumes her case, requires no fee, and wins her the victory?

When people can walk away from you: Let them walk.

The thing that binds us together is the commonality of our dreams, not our skin tone.

Real value isn't in what you own, drive, wear or live. The greater value is found in love and life, health and strength, friends and family!

If someone must be hurt, if it ever becomes necessary to bear pains, weather strong winds, or withstand trials or opposition, let it be adults and not children.

Don't get stuck on small. Don't stop dreaming, reaching and enhancing what you have.

Success is not success without a successor.

If you have achieved any level of success, then pour it into someone else. Success is not success without a successor.

Sometimes we're so busy trying to get things and at the end of the day, all we need is love.

Come hell or high water you will never take me back to the place I was before. I have been through too much to let life whoop me again. My faith is stronger than it's ever been, my mind is more tenacious than it's ever been, my soul is more absolute.

Never make a permanent decision about a temporary situation.

Big ideas come from forward thinking people who challenge the norm, think outside the box, and invent the world they see inside rather than submitting to the limitations of current dilemmas.

Instincts under pressure crush the carbon of conformity and create diamonds. Each new season of life offers to train us for the next season if we pay attention and adapt.

I'm not walking by sight- I'm, walking by faith.

You will never understand pleasure without pain.

Some young ladies are so starved for male approval that what should be a normal attraction to men is accelerated into an obsessive need for male affirmation. Tragically, these dear ladies allow themselves to be devoured in the arms of men who have neither regard not respect for them as people.

I think being a good Christian father, your responsibility varies with the age and the stage that your children are at.

You don't have to be in church service to worship, you can be in your own home. You enhance your spirituality, through the instrument of worship, when you really connect with the invisible, almighty God.

No matter how much talent you have in your mind and spirit, if your body is not able to function, you are not able to fulfill your destiny.

It's the gymnasium of life where you get the workout, the resistance, and you find out things about yourself that you didn't know.

There is a higher power, a higher influence, a God who rules and reigns and controls circumstances and situations that are beyond your area and realm of authority.

Ya'll don't hear what I'm preaching. I'm preaching so good I'm about to 'Amen' myself! Oh!...Oh God! I'm preaching good! Hallelujah!

When you leave the familiar and enter the unknown, your fear becomes refined by experience and hammered into tools of survival on the anvil of anxiety.

Sometimes we esteem others more important than ourselves. We always become the martyr. It is wonderful to be self-sacrificing, but watch out for self-disdain! If we don't apply some of the

medicine that we use on others to strengthen ourselves, our patients will be healed and we will be dying.

Put the greatest emphasis on what's in you; your knowledge, your wisdom, your inner strength, your character, your tenacity and people will look through the box and always walk away with the product.

If you don't find a way to love a flawed person, secretly you're teaching yourself that you are not lovable because of your flaws.

My church is fifty percent millennials. There's a connectivity between millennials and I.

Unforgiveness denies the victim the possibility of parole and leaves them stuck in the prison of what was, incarcerating them in their trauma and relinquishing the chance to escape beyond the pain.

I don't think that you can let the storms of life overwhelm you. When you do that, you are no better than the craziness that caused you to be under attack.

When my father died, I had a real experience with Christ, a real conversion with Christ and I had it in a Oneness church.

I think that my preaching style and many of my ideas and ideals about faith are based in both Pentecostal and Baptist background.

I think the amazing thing about Gospel music is that not only does it lift up the death and resurrection of our Lord, which is consistent with the Gospel, but it is uniquely communicated depending upon the generation.

Know when your space is too small for you...and you have to birthed to the next level!

God's not going to promote you because you have a dream, He's going to promote you because you've maximized where you are so now you're ready to go to the next level.

When you are talking about moral issues you are talking about same-sex marriage, which has been relegated over to the states. It's no longer a federal issue and yet, we are dealing with it like it's a federal issue but for a large degree it has become a state issue.

You don't even have to be the one praying, but if you get around somebody who really know how to pray-prayer will lift you when you've fallen, prayer will catch you when you've lost your grip, prayer will stop you from going overboard, prayer will bring you out!

Worship strengthens you. It gives you a sense of God's presence and ultimately His protection and provision.

No matter where you are in life right now, know this: God put you on this earth to fulfill the promise He has predestined for your life.

Stress and worry is a residual of relying on yourself and being your own god, in control of everything. Worship allows us to rely on God's power to steer us through life.

It is important to remember that for every person, there will be a problem. Even more importantly, for every problem, our God has a prescription!

As the old African adage says, 'everybody skin to me ain't kin to me'. So you can't exclusively make that the criteria of your job selection and say that it's right when it's black and discrimination when it's white.

You'd be surprised at the things that look great on the outside but are dysfunctional on the inside. Be sure to function as good as you look.

I would tell your generation, wherever you are on the totem poll -- whether you're halfway there or at the bottom, don't despise small beginnings; small beginnings get you ready for great things.

I'll give you some symptoms of a sign that your faith is deteriorating-whenever you face all of your problems and you trust only your plans to get you out-it is a sign that your faith is deteriorating.

What you can do is embrace what you have right now and to allow it to fill the vacancies of what you didn't get yesterday.

In the midst of the shopping and the wrapping and the arranging of presents under your tree this Christmas, may you not forget the gifts you cannot yet hold in your hands.

The right thing at the wrong time will lead to failure.

The lifting up of the woman does not require the tearing down of the man. In fact, a strong woman appreciates a strong man. Conversely, a strong man is not intimidated by a strong woman.

Somebody is n the hospital begging God for the opportunity u have right now. Step into your moment.

You can't have healing without sickness.

The Hell of Regret He who wins the race cannot run with the pack. And once you get out you can't come back, because caged lions don't mate with free ones! If ever you are going to win, you

must forsake the social construct of the cage and all the cage dwellers.

When You Hold Onto Your History, You Do It At The Expense Of Your Destiny.

Surround yourself with people whose definition of you is not based on your history, but your destiny.

Every goal that you will ever pursue will require a plan of action. Whether you are pursuing your life's destiny or striving to obtain a particular goal, you must be able to see things as you desire them to be.

Surround yourself with those who won't compete but will revel in your success and see your ascent as a reflection of their own possibilities.

Worship, from the Latin word meaning worth-ship, is where we express God's worth to us in our lives.

I think that the church has to develop its own agenda, and not allow itself to be consumed by either party to the chagrin of the people that we seek to serve.

Face the giants in your life, slay them, and move on. Do not be daunted by the mistakes and failures in your life.

I grew up in hospitals. My father was sick. So I grew up in hospitals from the age of 10. Got to see a lot of suffering.

Baptism was to put a line of demarcation between your past sins when you are buried with Him by Baptism-you are burying your past sins-eradicating them-putting a line in the sand saying that old man is dead and he is no longer alive any more and I rise up to walk in the newness of life.

You cannot have victory without conflict.

The most dangerous thing in the world is to have no purpose.

Faith becomes a bridge between where I am and where I want to go- it is a substance.

A setback is a setup for a comeback.

Eagles fly where lesser birds cannot fly, so eagles can do what lesser birds cannot do.

When people walk away from you, let them go. Your destiny is never tied to anyone who leaves you, and it doesn't mean they are bad people. It just means that their part in your story is over.

Faith must always pass the test of discouragement.

Once again, Kirk Franklin takes the church beyond the traditional, transitioning his life's experiences into life lessons. Clearly there is more to this man than great music. You will feel the beat of his heart and faith.

Life's a university that'll teach you lessons, regardless of your desire to pass the class or not, there is always something else to learn.

Faith will get in the ditch with you, faith will go in the prison with you, faith will go into divorce court with you, faith will go in the hospital with you, faith will go in the nursing home with you.

If you can't figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you right into your purpose.

Others can inspire you, but ultimately the only thing that empowers you is what lies within you and learning how to better utilize what you've been given.

You cannot embrace your destiny if you do not let go of your history.

When you begin to realize that your past does not necessarily dictate the outcome of your future, then you can release the hurt. It is impossible to inhale new air until you exhale the old.

I found out that the things that hurt us the most can become the fuel and the catalyst that propel us toward our destiny. It will either make you bitter or it will make you better.

Your words will tell others what you think. Your actions will tell them what you believe.

There is no room for God in a mind that's full of self.

Many of us harbor hidden low self-esteem. We deem everything and everyone more important that ourselves and think that meeting their needs is more important than meeting our own. But if you run out of gas, everyone riding with you will be left stranded.

You must realize that if you are going to reach the heights you have been called to reach, you may elicit some criticism from those who are jealous, petty or angry because they were left behind.

Don't allow your past or present condition to control you. It's just a process that you're going through to get you to the next level.

Too many people want the appearance of winning rather than the practices and hard work that create a true champion.

It is your passion that empowers you to be able to do that thing you were created to do.

My first church had seven members in it, and I have to remember, the rent was $225 a month and I worked for Union Carbide and took the check I made from work to pay for the rent to keep the church open.

We cannot embrace God's forgiveness if we are so busy clinging to past wounds and nursing old grudges.

I was raised in the Baptist church... but I didn't really have a real committed experience with Christ until my father died.

I think most people who get into their 50s reassess what made sense and what didn't make sense.

There is nothing I'm any more passionate than empowering the next generation.

I'm for people bettering themselves, no matter who they are and where they are, doing all they can to be all they can be.

Forgiveness is about empowering yourself, rather than empowering your past.

I think the first step is to understand that forgiveness does not exonerate the perpetrator. Forgiveness liberates the victim. It's a gift you give yourself.

I want to congratulate all the men out there who are working diligently to be good fathers whether they are stepfathers, or biological fathers or just spiritual fathers.

The first time I walked on a stage I knew that was what I was created to do. I knew that there was a calling and a sense of purpose in my life that gave me fulfillment and a sense of destiny.

There are no college courses to build up self-esteem or high school or elementary school. If you don't get those values at a early age, nurtured in your home, you don't get them.

I raised five children. They all have different personalities. All of them have different issues, different levels of success. That was a learning experience for me.

When you make a decision to forgive it's a decision that you have to make intellectually.

I like to see myself as a bridge builder, that is me building bridges between people, between races, between cultures, between politics, trying to find common ground.

If you learn how to forgive others for not being strong, then people can learn how to forgive you for your own issues.

As a Christian, Christ died so that we will have eternal life in Him in Heaven. What it looks like doesn't matter, what it smells like doesn't matter, as long as Christ is there it will be Heaven to me.

I think it is important that we rebuild an atmosphere of forgiveness and civility in every aspect of our lives.

I chose to present myself as one who comes from among the people, and I can be touched by their pain because I have my own.

We think that forgiveness is weakness, but it's absolutely not; it takes a very strong person to forgive.

So though there are many things I would have done differently, I submit to God's sovereignty and His purpose in my life and I thank Him that He brought me the way He brought me and gave me what He gave me when He thought I could handle it.

But I think my mistakes became the chemistry for my miracles. I think that my tests became my testimonies.

We develop our propensity to forgive or not to forgive by what we see illustrated at the early ages of our development.