T. D. Jakes

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

I don't dislike anybody. I love everybody.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.