We make a big mistake when we conclude that the law is the answer to bad behavior. In fact, the law alone stirs up more of such behavior. People get worse, not better, when you lay down the law. To be sure, the Spirit does use both God's law and God's gospel in our sanctification. But the law and the gospel do very different things.

The gospel doesn't just free me from what people think of me, but also from what I think of me.

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.

If the depths of everyone's sin was made public, we would all be much more gracious to each other.

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.

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

There's nothing like suffering to remind us how not in control we actually are, how little power we ultimately have, and how much we ultimately need God.