Jesus set us free from fear and gave us the gift of the spirit so that we can always experience God and share in the divine life. We have often submitted to slavery again by heaping rules on our heads and scaring one another with stories of divine wrath and punishment. Paul encouraged his followers to step forward and embrace the new life offered by Jesus. Love is the summation of the law and the prophets. When we are guided by love and the spirit then we are walking with God.

In the spiritual life there is no room for pretending or acting. There are those who put on a great show of holiness. They can be prim and proper and exercising exaggerated piety or being overly concerned with purity. We can find these types in all religions. Jesus went right to the heart of the matter: he told people to tend to their inner self and not to focus on external appearances. Purity is merely a reflection of the beauty of a clean heart - one that is filled with compassion, generosity, mercy, kindness, and justice. Impurity is an expression of hatred, selfishness, violence, greed, and fear. The spiritual person is one who has cleansed the heart and soul. Before we pass judgments on others, it will be helpful for us to look within and see if we share in the tendencies we despise in others. Being beautiful on the inside means that we will be pleasing to God and to others.