---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One act of obedience is worth a hundred…"
description: "\"“One act of obedience is worth a hundred sermons.”\" — Deitrich Bonhoeffer"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc2/deitrich-bonhoeffer-78335_quote_one-act-of-obedience-is-worth-a-hundred_2032036.jpg"
---

#  One act of obedience is worth a hundred sermons.

![“One act of obedience is worth a hundred sermons.” quote by Deitrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc2/deitrich-bonhoeffer-78335_quote_one-act-of-obedience-is-worth-a-hundred_2032036.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc2/deitrich-bonhoeffer-78335_quote_one-act-of-obedience-is-worth-a-hundred_2032036.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc2/deitrich-bonhoeffer-78335_quote_one-act-of-obedience-is-worth-a-hundred_2032036.jpg)

> ““One act of obedience is worth a hundred sermons.””

[Deitrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deitrich-bonhoeffer/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A single obedient act can have greater moral impact than many sermons.

**In simple terms:** Obedience can outweigh preaching.

Key Takeaway

Act on convictions rather than just speaking.

Themes

ethics faith action

Mood

thoughtful inspirational

Type

theological philosophical

When to use this quote

- social activism
- faith practice
- leadership training
- community service

Key Concepts

moral authority personal responsibility

Questions to Reflect On

- When is obedience more powerful than words?
- How can you balance action with teaching?

A Different Perspective

It may neglect the need for teaching and dialogue.

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[Act Obedience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/act-obedience-2079321/) [Obedience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obedience/) [Obedience Worth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obedience-worth-3737715/) [Sermons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sermons/) [Worth Sermons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worth-sermons-3737716/)

## Related quotes

> [One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/one-act-of-obedience-is-better-than-one-hundred-sermons/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [When love firmly settles in the heart, the limbs will only act in obedience to Allah.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-rajab/when-love-firmly-settles-in-the-heart-the-limbs-will-only-act-in/)

[Ibn Rajab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-rajab/)

> [“Duty is an act of obedience stemming from respect, whilst willing desire is an act of freedom. To do something out of obedience is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-thrussell/duty-is-an-act-of-obedience-stemming-from-respect-whilst-willing/)

[Jill Thrussell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-thrussell/)

> [“Each act of obedience by the Christian is a modest proof, unequivocal for all its imperfection, of the reality of what he attests."1”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-h-peterson/each-act-of-obedience-by-the-christian-is-a-modest-proof-unequivocal/)

[Eugene H. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-h-peterson/)

> [Worship is an act of obedience of the heart. It is a response that requires the very core of who you are, to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darlene-zschech/worship-is-an-act-of-obedience-of-the-heart-it-is-a-response-that/)

[Darlene Zschech](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darlene-zschech/)

> [“Obedience is the thing, living in active response to the living God. The most important question we ask of this text is not, 'What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-h-peterson/obedience-is-the-thing-living-in-active-response-to-the-living-god/)

[Eugene H. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-h-peterson/)

> [“God rewards every act of obedience to His Will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaachynma-n-e-agu/god-rewards-every-act-of-obedience-to-his-will/)

[Jaachynma N.E. Agu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaachynma-n-e-agu/)

> [“Yes, every act of obedience is an act of worship." he said. "But why don't we learn that sooner? Why do we waste our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/yes-every-act-of-obedience-is-an-act-of-worship-he-said-but-why-don-t/)

[Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/)

> [...often, stepping outside your comfort zone is not careless irresponsibility, but a necessary act of obedience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-stanley/often-stepping-outside-your-comfort-zone-is-not-careless/)

[Andy Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-stanley/)

> [it's not my job to preach a sermon. Art is anyhow a homily. My job is to speak in living images, not in arguments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-gogol/it-s-not-my-job-to-preach-a-sermon-art-is-anyhow-a-homily-my-job-is/)

[Nikolai Gogol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-gogol/)

> [The pious farmer, who ne'er misses pray'rs, With patience suffers unexpected rain; He blesses Heav'n for what its bounty spares, And sees, resign'd, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wortley-montagu/the-pious-farmer-who-ne-er-misses-pray-rs-with-patience-suffers/)

[Mary Wortley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wortley-montagu/)

> [“The same Sermon on the Mount that influenced Tolstoy to write “The Kingdom of God is Within You”, inspired me to a great extent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-same-sermon-on-the-mount-that-influenced-tolstoy-to-write-the/)

[Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/)

> [Sermons are like pie-crust, the shorter the better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-o-malley/sermons-are-like-pie-crust-the-shorter-the-better/)

[Austin O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-o-malley/)

> [As it can be maintained that all the great advances have come from men under forty, so the history of the world shows that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/as-it-can-be-maintained-that-all-the-great-advances-have-come-from/)

[William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/)

> [Christ never preached any funeral sermons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-l-moody/christ-never-preached-any-funeral-sermons/)

[Dwight L. Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-l-moody/)

## More by Deitrich Bonhoeffer

> [“The believer is neither a pessimist nor an optimist. To be either is illusory. The believer sees reality not in a certain light but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deitrich-bonhoeffer/the-believer-is-neither-a-pessimist-nor-an-optimist-to-be-either-is/)

[Deitrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deitrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [“We are saved by faith alone, but not by faith which is alone.” That is, we are saved, not by anything we do, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deitrich-bonhoeffer/we-are-saved-by-faith-alone-but-not-by-faith-which-is-alone-that-is/)

[Deitrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deitrich-bonhoeffer/)

[Explore all 3 Deitrich Bonhoeffer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deitrich-bonhoeffer/)

## More Obedience quotes

> [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/)

[Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/)

> [If you don't plan to live the Christian life totally committed to knowing your God and to walking in obedience to Him, then don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-arthur/if-you-don-t-plan-to-live-the-christian-life-totally-committed-to/)

[Kay Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-arthur/)

> [Today the meaning of the word believe has been weakened. In the eyes of most it has become a mere acknowledgment of a certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bevere/today-the-meaning-of-the-word-believe-has-been-weakened-in-the-eyes/)

[John Bevere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bevere/)

> [“God uses one whom others would have passed over without a second glance. The history of obedience to the Great Commission is full of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-paterson/god-uses-one-whom-others-would-have-passed-over-without-a-second/)

[Ross Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-paterson/)

> [The Christian man must aim at that complete obedience to God in which life finds its highest happiness, its greatest good, its perfect consummation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barclay/the-christian-man-must-aim-at-that-complete-obedience-to-god-in-which/)

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> [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [The whole duty of man is summed up in obedience to God's will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-whole-duty-of-man-is-summed-up-in-obedience-to-god-s-will/)

[George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/)

> [“There is indeed something delightful about being able to combine obedience and disobedience in the same act.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/there-is-indeed-something-delightful-about-being-able-to-combine/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [“Women who join together with each other to deny the male god who cursed their sex and to reject his demands for obedience, praise,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trista-hendren/women-who-join-together-with-each-other-to-deny-the-male-god-who/)

[Trista Hendren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trista-hendren/)

> [Faith is the power, obedience the sacrifice, love the means, Christ the reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boyd-k-packer/faith-is-the-power-obedience-the-sacrifice-love-the-means-christ-the/)

[Boyd K. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boyd-k-packer/)

> [ “In 1914... \[German\] history, poetry, dream and the individual moment were all combined in one exhilarating sensation...The nation was a creation of one's imagination,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-rites-of-spring-modris-eksteins/in-1914-german-history-poetry-dream-and-the-individual-moment-were/)

[The Rites of Spring Modris Eksteins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-rites-of-spring-modris-eksteins/)

> [Obedience is the psychological mechanism that links individual action to political purpose. It is the dispositional cement that binds men to systems of authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/obedience-is-the-psychological-mechanism-that-links-individual-action/)

[Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/)

> [Adam became so proud that he wished to become God and died for his pride; the Son of God humbled Himself unto death, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-kronstadt/adam-became-so-proud-that-he-wished-to-become-god-and-died-for-his/)

[John of Kronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-kronstadt/)

> [Knowledge forbidden? Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord Envy them that? Can it be sin to know, Can it be death? And do they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/knowledge-forbidden-suspicious-reasonless-why-should-their-lord-envy/)

[John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/)

> [In order to the attaining of all useful knowledge this is most necessary, that we fear God; we are not qualified to profit by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-henry/in-order-to-the-attaining-of-all-useful-knowledge-this-is-most/)

[Matthew Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-henry/)

[Browse all 1,729 Obedience quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obedience/)

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