“Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat! All his thoughts are  concentrated on the piece of meat. Otherwise he has no thought, wish, or hope.”
~ Martin Luther, Table Talk

“You wish to know why it is I whom men follow? It is because the eyes of the Most  High have willed it so. He continually watches the good and the wicked, and as  his most holy eyes have not found among sinners any smaller man, nor any more  insufficient and sinful, therefore he has chosen me to accomplish the marvelous  work which God has undertaken.
God chose me because he could find none more worthless, and he wished to  confound the nobility and grandeur, the strength, the beauty and the learning of  this world.”
~ St. Francis of Assisi

“This life therefore is not righteousness but growth in righteousness; not health
but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not what we  shall be but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished but it is  going on; this is not the end but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory
but all is being purified.” 

~ Martin Luther

“Rejoice, you just – it is the birthday of the Justifier.
Rejoice, you who are weak and sick –
it is the birthday of the Savior, the Healer.
Rejoice, captives – it is the birthday of the Redeemer.
Rejoice, slaves – it is the birthday of the one who makes you lords.
Rejoice, free people – it is the birthday of the one who makes you free.
Rejoice, all Christians – it is the birthday of Christ.”
~ St. Augustine, 4th century AD

“Some pretend that children, not as yet having 'reason,' ought not to receive  baptism. I answer: That reason in no way contributes to faith...
If God can communicate the Holy Spirit to grown persons, he can communicate it  to young  children. Faith comes of the Word of God, when this is heard; little  children hear that Word when they receive baptism, and therewith they receive  also faith.”
~ Martin Luther, Table Talk

Man's maker was made man that He, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother's breast; that the Bread might hunger, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired on its journey; that Truth might be accused of false witness, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might grow in weakness; that the Healer might be wounded; that Life might die.

“The reason God does not like being taken for granted is not only that it robs Him  of glory but it robs me of joy. One of the greatest discoveries I have ever made is  that these two goals – God's goal to be glorified and my goal to be satisfied –
are not at odds. That's the gospel.”
~ John Piper, Treasuring God in our Traditions