The good news of suffering is that it brings us to the end of ourselves - a purpose it has certainly served in my life. It brings us to the place of honesty, which is the place of desperation, which is the place of faith, which is the place of freedom.

...this culture of mandatory happiness actually promotes dishonesty and more suffering.

When you don't have anything to lose, you discover something wonderful: you're free to take great risks without fear or reservation.

Because Jesus was someone, you’re free to be no one.

The law demands that we do it all; the gospel declares that Jesus paid it all.

Because Jesus came to secure for us what we could never secure for ourselves, life doesn't have to be a tireless effort to establish ourselves, justify ourselves, validate ourselves.

I had turned personal validation into my primary source of meaning and value, so that without it I was miserable and depressed.