God does everything through people who understand they're nothing. And God does nothing through those who think they're everything.

Legalism breeds a sense of entitlement that turns us into complainers.

The Gospel is not ultimately a defense from pain, it is the message of God's rescue through pain. In fact, it allows us to drop our defenses, to escape not from pain but from the prison of "How" and "Why" to the freedom of "Who?"

I ended up dropping out of high school at 16 and getting kicked out of my home. My parents told me, sadly, that because I was so disruptive to the rest of the household, that I could no longer live under their roof.

I didn't realize that I was in a self-made prison of human approval and human acceptance. Didn't even realize it. Most of the prisons we live in we are not conscious of.

In those moments when I'm obsessively counting my sins against me, it is good news to remember that God has counted my sins against Christ.

Whatever we may mean by 'Christian growth,' it is ultimately this: less faith in me, more faith in God.