God's acceptance of us cannot be gained by our successes nor forfeited by our failures.

I was spending too much time thinking about how I was doing, if I was learning everything I was supposed to be learning during this difficult season, whether I was doing it right or not, taking my spiritual pulse, etc - my inner lawyer was working overtime.

When the Christian faith becomes defined by who we are and what we do and not by who Christ is and what he did for us, we miss the gospel - and we, ironically, become more disobedient.

Christian growth doesn't happen by first behaving better, but by believing better--believi ng in bigger, deeper, brighter ways what Christ has already secured for sinners.

To focus on how I'm doing more than what Christ has done is Christian narcissism

God's ability to clean things up is infinitely greater than our ability to mess things up.

If your theological convictions are not producing a deeper love for others, then it's time to rethink some stuff.