God is not interested in what you think you should be or feel. He is not interested in the narrative you construct for yourself, or that others construct for you. Rather, He is interested in you, the you who suffers, the you who inflicts suffering on others, the you who hides, the you who has bad days (and good ones). And He meets you where you are.

The gospel doesn't make bad people good, it makes dead people alive.

Christianity is not about good people getting better. If anything, it is good news for bad people coping with their failure to be good. The heart of the Christian faith is Good News, not good advice, good technique, or good behavior. Too many people have walked away from the church, not because they’re walking away from Jesus, but because the church has walked away from Jesus.

Even those of us who have tasted the radical saving grace of God find it intuitively difficult not to put conditions on grace.

Our deepest fear is judgment. Our deepest longing is love. The gospel of grace removes the one and provides the other.

Passive righteousness tells us that God does not need our good works. Active righteousness tells us that our neighbor does. The aim and direction of good works are horizontal, not vertical.

I became frustrated with myself for not being as sturdy and unquestioning as I knew a man in my position should be.