Brennan Manning

Trust is that rare and priceless treasure that wins us the affection of our heavenly Father.

By and large, the gospel of grace is neither proclaimed, understood, nor lived.

We have been given God in our souls and Christ in our flesh. We have the power to believe where others deny, to hope where others despair, to love where others hurt.

Our huffing and puffing to impress God, our scrambling for brownie points, our thrashing about trying to fix ourselves while hiding our pettiness and wallowing in guilt are nauseating to God and are a flat out denial of the gospel of grace.

God loves you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be, because nobody is as they should be.

Sin and forgiveness and falling and getting back up and losing the pearl of great price in the couch cushions but then finding it again, and again, and again? Those are the stumbling steps to becoming Real, the only script that's really worth following in this world or the one that's coming.