Spirituality must be far more than simply being rescued from “fire”. How appallingly selfish it is to base one’s spiritual quest on “dying right”. Surely spirituality leads us to life. Surely this life is a journey into functionality, and it has it’s greatest fruit in the lives of all we deal with. Good, bad and ugly alike! I often worry that we spend so much time searching for personal purity… being right with God…(think about that for a moment, it is a contradiction to the cross). . that we simply forget that, in Jesus, we have been reconciled with God, it has been done. There is nothing we can do to add any “greater rightness” to what has already been given to us. In fact, it has nothing to do with “being right with God”. It has everything to do with love overwhelming the unlovely. Forgiveness overwhelming the unforgivable. Grace liberating the "unworthy", and our response in being loving, forgiving and gracious

If we continue to strive for personal purity to gain something from God are we “Falling from grace”? Are we saying; “Grace is not enough, I need to prove myself, I want to be “blessed” on my own terms”? Can you see the absurdity of this? Is grace weak?

Or is it simply that we cannot trust grace?

Furthermore, in our pursuit of “rewards” we make ourselves the object of grace. Faith becomes self-centred. Spirituality is rooted to our own lives, our own expectations, our own comfort and our own destiny.

Yes, we can rest in the love of God. We can marvel at his nature, his grace and his forgiveness, but if this doesn’t lead us to be loving, gracious and forgiving then it simply is a coat of high gloss paints that is as shallow as the teachings that prop up our spiritual ego.