Jesus's teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing , religious people of his day.

In every other religion the indicative flows from the imperative. Which means, ‘because I do, therefore I am... because I do this, therefore I’m a child of God.’ But only in Christianity does the imperative flow from the indicative. ‘Because I am in Christ all these things, therefore I obey.’ Exactly the opposite.

You dont fall into love. You commit to it. Love is saying I will be there no matter what.

Religion makes us proud of what we have done. The Gospel makes us proud of what Jesus has done.

We instinctively tend to limit for whom we exert ourselves. We do it for people like us, and for people whom we like. Jesus will have none of that. By depicting a Samaritan helping a Jew, Jesus could not have found a more forceful way to say that anyone at all in need - regardless of race, politics, class, and religion - is your neighbour. Not everyone is your brother or sister in faith, but everyone is your neighbour, and you must love your neighbour.

The deeper the experience of the free grace of God, the more generous we must become.

To love our success more than God and our neighbor hardens the heart, making us less able to feel and to sense.