Top 160 Jen Hatmaker Quotes (2024 Update)
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51. “You don’t have to be who you first were. That early version of yourself, that season you were in, even the phase you are currently experiencing – it is all good or purposeful or at least useful and created a fuller, nuanced you and contributed to your life’s meaning, but you are not stuck in a category just because you were once branded that way. Just because something was does not mean it will always be.”

— Jen Hatmaker

52. “Do we emphasize behavior over character? Because good behavior won’t guarantee anything. If they don’t love Jesus and people, it matters zero if they remain virgins and don’t say the F-word. We must shepherd their hearts, not just their hemlines. Jesus operates beyond the tidy boundaries of good behavior.”

— Jen Hatmaker

53. “You are good at something for a reason. God designed you this way, on purpose. It isn’t fake or a fluke or small. These are the mind and heart and hands and voice you’ve been given, so use them.”

— Jen Hatmaker

54. “When we impose unrealistic expectations on ourselves, it’s natural to force them on everyone else.”

— Jen Hatmaker

55. “Instead of waiting for community, provide it, and you’ll end up with it anyway.”

— Jen Hatmaker

56. “Flatten your feet, because nothing in your life is too dead for resurrection.”

— Jen Hatmaker

57. “I seek only friends who bleed and sweat and laugh and cry. Don’t fear your humanity; it is your best offering.”

— Jen Hatmaker

58. “Saying “I meant well” is not going to cut it. Not with God screaming, begging, pleading, urging us to love mercy and justice, to feed the poor and the orphaned, to care for the last and least in nearly every book of the Bible. It will not be enough one day to stand before Jesus and say, “Oh? Were You serious about all that?”

— Jen Hatmaker

59. “Obedience isn’t a lack of fear. It’s just doing it scared.”

— Jen Hatmaker

60. “If people around me aren’t moved by my Christ or my church, then I must be doing a miserable job of representing them both.”

— Jen Hatmaker

61. “Folks who thrive in God’s grace give grace easily, but the self-critical person becomes others-critical. We “love” people the way we “love” ourselves, and if we are not good enough, then no one is. We keep ourselves brutally on the hook, plus our husbands, our kids, our friends, our churches, our leaders, anyone “other.” When we impose unrealistic expectations on ourselves, it’s natural to force them on everyone else.”

— Jen Hatmaker

62. “Thank you, Department Stores, for the flickering fluorescent lights, dingy yellow wall paint, and adjustable mirrors in the dressing room where I try on bathing suits. You are why I drink.”

— Jen Hatmaker

63. “God is unveiling women around the world. He always has and continues to work through women and girls, who are half of His church. They are, like men and boys, His image bearers. They are also, like men and boys, gifted, empowered, smart, and anointed.”

— Jen Hatmaker

64. “This is why my clothes come from Target; I’m there for Sharpies, so I guess I’ll buy this shirt facing the aisle.”

— Jen Hatmaker

65. “Cooking dinner is a sacred gateway from work to rest, from seven separate lives to one shared table.”

— Jen Hatmaker

66. “May we show love in big and small ways, and may that love reach people accustomed to being shamed or ignored.”

— Jen Hatmaker

67. “Grief cannot be sidestepped; it must be endured.”

— Jen Hatmaker

68. “Do we really need to be fed more of the Word, or are we simply undernourished from an absence of living the Word? Maybe we love God, but are we loving others? If our faith is about us, then we are not just hungry – our spirits are starving.”

— Jen Hatmaker

69. “Folks who thrive in God’s grace give grace easily, but the self-critical person becomes others-critical. We “love” people the way we “love” ourselves, and if we are not good enough, then no one is.”

— Jen Hatmaker

70. “We cannot carry the gospel to the poor and lowly while emulating the practices of the rich and powerful. We’ve been invited into a story that begins with humility and ends with glory; never the other way around.”

— Jen Hatmaker

71. “I don’t like when people minimize their gifts. There is a difference between humility and insecurity, and self-effacement does no one any favors. We teach our watching children to doubt and excuse and diminish themselves.”

— Jen Hatmaker

72. “Trust me, no one wants a perfect friend who can’t offer a minute of transparency. We can get that on Pinterest. Our souls ache for real people in real homes with real kids and real lives. We may carefully curate online identities with well-chosen pictures and selective information, but doing so leaves us starving for something true. I seek only friends who bleed and sweat and laugh and cry. Don’t fear your humanity; it is your best offering.”

— Jen Hatmaker

73. “It is not our responsibility to fix every mess. If someone steps onto the scary ledge of truth, it is enough to acknowledge her courage and make this promise: I am here with you as your friend...”

— Jen Hatmaker

74. “A worthy life means showing up when showing up is the only thing to do. Goodness bears itself out in millions of ordinary ways across the globe, for the rich and poor, the famous and unknown, in enormous measures and tiny, holy moments.”

— Jen Hatmaker

75. “Take something away, and your habits become clear.”

— Jen Hatmaker

76. “For Jesus, who lived so lightly on this earth, He didn’t even have a place to lay His head. I want so deeply to be like You.”

— Jen Hatmaker

77. “A homeless man clarified this once: “You know? We’ve lost so many things: dignity, security, our marriages, our jobs. But one thing we all miss is kids.” A tighter safety net exists around homeless children; society won’t stand for their vagrancy so they are whisked into foster care leaving parents on the streets. “But you guys always bring your kids down here, and it makes us happy. It’s a bright spot in our dark lives.”

— Jen Hatmaker

78. “Then into the trash, la de da. For the bargain price of a dollar, I receive sixteen ounces of tap water and contribute to the waste crisis.”

— Jen Hatmaker

79. “I sincerely believe we are created by a Creator to be creative. This is part of His image we bear, this bringing forth of beauty, life, newness... It looks like art, it looks like music, it looks like community, it looks like splendor. That thing in you that wants to make something beautiful? It is holy.”

— Jen Hatmaker

80. “The day I am unaware of my privileges and unmoved by my greed is the day something has to change.”

— Jen Hatmaker

81. “Never once did Jesus charge them with something they did wrong. His entire indictment was on what they didn’t do right. It was a sin of neglect, a crime of omission. And it went far beyond ignoring poverty. Jesus explained that when we ignore the least, we ignore Him.”

— Jen Hatmaker

82. “I decided that people-pleasing, fear, and politeness weren’t the hallmarks of a well-lived life, nor were their ugly companions: passive aggression, resentment, and dishonesty. I discovered the world is hungry for women who show up and tell the truth, unafraid and free, expanding to the very edges of who they were always meant to be.”

— Jen Hatmaker

83. “Faith does not always demand that God explains Himself.”

— Jen Hatmaker

84. “Maybe we don’t recognize satisfaction because it is disguised as radical generosity, a strange misnomer in a consumer culture.”

— Jen Hatmaker

85. “There will never be enough knowledge to fill the cracks of Christian maturity without the fruit of selfless service manifested in our lives.”

— Jen Hatmaker

86. “It is not your responsibility to explain what God is doing with your life. He has not provided enough information to figure it out. Instead, you are asked to turn loose and let God be God. Therein lies the secret to the “peace that transcends understanding.”

— Jen Hatmaker

87. “If we’ve been in church for years yet aren’t full, are we really hungry for more knowledge? In our busy lives, do we really need another program or event? Do we really need to be fed more of the Word, or are we simply undernourished from an absence of living the Word? Maybe we love God, but are we loving others? If our faith is about us, then we are not just hungry – our spirits are starving.”

— Jen Hatmaker

88. “Thank you, Caillou, for having a nonphonetic title so my son cannot look you up on Netflix.”

— Jen Hatmaker

89. “One decent sermon cannot influence a disoriented person in the same way your consistent presence in her life can.”

— Jen Hatmaker

90. “We are called to this work, and it might not seem like much, but if you play your one note and I play mine and she plays hers, together it will create a beautiful song that sounds like freedom for the captives and good news to the poor. May the broken-hearted be healed and ashes turned to beauty in our generation. God, make us worthy of Your calling.”

— Jen Hatmaker

91. “We need to quit trying to be awesome and instead be wise.”

— Jen Hatmaker

92. “We should not cushion every blow. This is life. Learning to deal with struggle and to develop responsibility is crucial. A good parent prepares the child for the path, not the path for the child. We can still demonstrate gentle and attached parenting without raising children who melt on a warm day.”

— Jen Hatmaker

93. “We need each other, so we probably ought to practice radical grace, because our well-flaunted opinions are cold companions when real life hits.”

— Jen Hatmaker

94. “Sometimes kids get a mean teacher or a class they don’t like or an inflexible deadline even though that child was “exhausted the night before.” We should not cushion every blow. This is life. Learning to deal with struggle and to develop responsibility is crucial. A good parent prepares the child for the path, not the path for the child. We can still demonstrate gentle and attached parenting without raising children who melt on a warm day.”

— Jen Hatmaker

95. “All due respect to the Resurrection, but two-becoming-one might be the greatest miracle ever.”

— Jen Hatmaker

96. “It is certifiably insane. The only thing worse than this unattainable standard is the guilt that follows when perfection proves impossible.”

— Jen Hatmaker

97. “You don’t need to wait another day to figure out your calling. You’re living it, dear one. Your gifts have a place right now, in the job you have, in your stage of life, with the people who surround you. Calling is virtually never big or famous work; that is rarely the way the kingdom comes. It shows up quietly, subversively, almost invisibly. Half the time, it is unplanned – just the stuff of life in which a precious human steps in, the good news personified.”

— Jen Hatmaker

98. “However, if you’re navigating the tension between your Bible and your life, or Jesus’ ancient ideas and the modern wayward church, or God’s kingdom on earth and reality, then welcome. Sometimes it’s better to wade through murky waters with a fellow explorer than with an authority. Questions can still be investigated with another learner instead of with one who has only answers.”

— Jen Hatmaker

99. “If we could believe we are deeply connected in the fragile places, we could drop the games. When you tell me the truth about yourself, I no longer hide from you. You become safe for me. So guess what? You are now a recipient of my truth too. I am drawn to you. Your vulnerability makes a path for my own. Your truth-telling says to me, “I will not despise, judge, or abandon you.” Ironically, it gives me the courage.”

— Jen Hatmaker

100. “Grayed-down discipleship is an easier sell, but it created pretend Christians, obsessing over Scriptures we like while conspicuously ignoring the rest.”

— Jen Hatmaker