Religious contentment is the enemy of the spiritual life always. The biographies of the saints teach that the way to spiritual greatness has always been through much suffering and inward pain.…
The value of the stripping experience lies in its power to detach us from life’s passing interests and to throw us back upon eternity. It serves to empty our earthly vessels and prepare us for the inpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 5:3; 2 Corinthians 12:9–10; Ephesians 5:18–19
The Pursuit of Man, 133, 135.