One Sentence Can Change Your Life

Everyday we are bombarded with tons of information. From Facebook, countless websites, books, movies, music, infos in our work, television, to our personal interaction - all of these compete with our attention and our focus. To be realistic, all of these information cannot be stuff in our minds. To be honest, not all we read in a book can be 100% retained. Yes, even reading Bible from chapters to chapters, we can admit that we don't remember all that we read.


But what I learned was this, - to learn at least one truth, one sentence, is enough to change my mind and my life. I admit it is not the quantity of information but the quality of information that changes a life.


This is why I jot down sentences I learned from books I read, sermons I heard, movies I watched, music I heard and arts I admired. It maybe just one but it can impact me a lot. This is why, at least one verse a day will already fully inspire me rather than read countless chapters. And even at times I read voraciously from chapter to chapter, but I make it a point that at least I can quote one sentence to summarize what I have read.


John Piper said it well:

What I have learned from about twenty-years of serious reading is this: It is sentences that change my life, not books. What changes my life is some new glimpse of truth, some powerful challenge, some resolution to a long-standing dilemma, and these usually come concentrated in a sentence or two. I do not remember 99% of what I read, but if the 1% of each book or article I do remember is a life-changing insight, then I don’t begrudge the 99%.

So, what sentence has impacted and changed you today?