If we won't be serious about dealing with our sin,we cannot expect to grow in our faith. If you want to move to a new level with God,take an inventory of what God has told you about your sin and consider what you've been doing about it.

You cannot heal what you do not first acknowledge.

The great and merciful surprise is that we come to God not by doing it right but by doing it wrong!

As any good therapist will tell you, you cannot heal what you do not acknowledge, and what you do not consciously acknowledge will remain in control of you from within, festering and destroying you and those around you.

What we call Original Sin in Genesis perhaps could, in a sense, be better called Original Shame, because Adam and Eve describe themselves as feeling naked. Some of the first words of God to these newly created people are, "Who told you that you were naked?" (Genesis 3:11). Next, in a lovely maternal image, God as seamstress sews leather garments for them (3:21). The first thing God does after creation itself is cover the shame of these new creatures.

Salvation is not sin perfectly avoided, as the ego would prefer; but in fact, salvation is sin turned on its head and used in our favor.

A.A. is the only group I know that is willing and honest enough to just tell people up front, "You are damn selfish!" Or, "Until you get beyond your massive narcissism you are never going to grow up.

The Crucified and Risen Christ uses the mistakes of the past to create a positive future, a future of redemption instead of retribution. He does not eliminate or punish the mistakes. He uses them for transformative purposes.

Allow yourself to be fully known, and you will know what you need to know.

We cannot heal what we do not first acknowledge.

The shadow is the place we put all the suppressed and repressed parts of our lives. + Eventually, in every life, the suppressed and repressed parts of our selves will revolt. + The challenge is to acknowledge and honor the shadow but not be tyrannized by it.

God, however, forgives even immature religion, and those who know God learn to do the same.