D.L. Moody
1837 to 1899
Dwight Lyman Moody was an American evangelist and publisher who began his ministry among the poor of Chicago. He preached on both sides of the Atlantic and founded the Moody Church and what is now the Moody Bible Institute. He had little formal schooling, a deep love for the Bible, and a knack for saying true things simply.
Moody never had much schooling, and he turned that into a strength rather than an apology. He sold shoes before he preached, and he kept the salesman’s instinct that if ordinary people could not follow you, the fault was probably yours and not theirs. So he said true things simply, and large crowds on both sides of the Atlantic understood him without strain.
What he began was built to outlast him. The Bible institute that still carries his name was founded so that ordinary working Christians could learn the scriptures and pass them on to others. We feature Moody for that plainness and that practical love, the steady conviction that the good news is not a private club for the educated but something anyone can carry to a neighbour.
Selected sayings
A few more lines from D.L. Moody, gathered as encouragement, each with a note on where it comes from or what it means.
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“Faith makes all things possible. Love makes all things easy.”
A line much loved for pairing trust in God with the love that flows from it.
D.L. Moody
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“The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.”
Moody on why a daily, honest habit of reading Scripture matters so much.
D.L. Moody
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“Character is what you are in the dark.”
Who we are when no one is watching, which for Moody was the real measure of a person.
D.L. Moody
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“If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of itself.”
A favourite of Moody's on putting integrity before image.
D.L. Moody
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“A great many people are trying to make peace, but that has already been done. All we have to do is to enter into it.”
Moody on the peace with God that Christ has already secured at the cross.
D.L. Moody