Those trapped in sin will not normally thank you for pointing out the darkness in their lives.

If we aren’t prepared to be counter-cultural we aren’t ready to be Christians.

Walking in the light means we pursue obedience and are honest about our remaining darkness.

You will never see the preciousness of a Savior, if you do not see the reality of your sin.

I try to keep in my mind the simple question: Am I trying to do good or make myself look good? Too many of our responsibilities get added to our plate when we are trying to please people, impress people, prove ourselves, acquire power, increase our prestige. All those motivations are about looking good more than doing good.

The one indispensable requirement for producing godly, mature Christians is godly, mature Christians.

It’s all too easy to turn the fight of faith into sanctification-by-checklist. Take care of a few bad habits, develop a couple good ones, and you’re set. But a moral checklist doesn’t take into consideration the idols of the hearts. It may not even have the gospel as part of the equation. And inevitably, checklist spirituality is highly selective. So you end up feeling successful at sanctification because you stayed away from drugs, lost weight, served at the soup kitchen, and renounced Styrofoam. But you’ve ignored gentleness, humility, joy, and sexual purity.