Love not Guilt

This quote has really been a blessing to me this week: (2021 Update: link now points to Wayback Machine)

Sanctification is never advanced by self-focused grief or guilt. It is energized by joy and driven by love. This is the distinction that gospelized sanctification emphasizes. Only a remembrance of the gospel will free us from our habitual grief and guilt. Only the gospel can implant the joy and love in our hearts that will free, motivate, and inspire us.

The emphasis on self-focused grief and guilt took up the majority of my Christian life for many years. Teen Mania amplified it quite a bit with their “sanctification by force of will” methods. It’s a relief to know that true sanctification only occurs when God’s love bubbles up inside us and overflows to others and in the joy in doing His will.