The closer we get to God through Jesus, the more the Spirit cultivates in us humility and love for God and neighbor. If we do not focus on the humbling, empowering gospel of grace and if, in fact, we stay “religious,” we get puffed up in our own achievements and successes and lost in our own self-righteousness, and our hearts grow colder both to God and to our neighbors. Even if we are engaged in spiritual pursuits, if we are focused on ourselves, we end up only using God and using others. And if you’re using people, you certainly aren’t loving them. Only the gospel gives us the security (of
...more
