Rich Mullins- two great insights

(when asked what kind of legacy he wanted to leave)
“...If my life is motivated by my ambition to leave a legacy, what I’ll probably leave as a legacy is ambition. But if my life is motivated by the power of the Spirit in me, if I live in the awareness of the indwelling Christ, if I allow His presence to guide my actions, to guide my motives, those sorts of things, that’s the only time I think that we really leave a great legacy. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. My ambition to be a good guy is a fleshly ambition. And when Christ calls us to take up our cross and follow Him, a lot of us think that what that means is that were supposed to lay down our vices, and we’re supposed to cling to virtues. But I think that unless Christ is Lord of our virtues, our virtues become dangerous to us, and dangerous to the people around us."
“I think that when Christ calls us to take up our cross, what He means is You must die not only to whatever vices are in your life (which He will eventually kill out), you must also die to whatever virtues are in your life. You life is not valuable because you’re an articulate speaker. Your life is not valuable because you’re a generous person. Your life is not valuable because of any of that…If we empty ourselves of everything, and allow God to be present, then it’s no longer us, it’s Him. Then it becomes a spiritual thing. And that which is born of the spirit is spirit. And that’s when I think Christianity really begins to make sense."

(talking about Christian legalism and self-righteousness)
“I think I would rather live on the verge of falling, and let my security be in the all-sufficiency of the grace of God, than to love in some kind of pietistic illusion of moral excellence. Not that I don’t want to be morally excellent, but my faith isn’t in the idea that I am more moral than anybody else, my faith is in the idea that God and His love are greater than whatever sins any of us commit.”

Amen,
-Dale