The gospel dwells at the core of Christianity. What God has done for us in Christ is the entire basis for our faith, our hope, our love, and our lives. Yet too often, in seeking to grow as a Christian, we leave the gospel back at the starting line--as if it's something we must grow beyond, as if going deeper requires moving on from it. Only by renewing our minds in God's absolute acceptance of us through the cross are we enabled to truly desire and live out what religion can only impose against our will. It's how the need to keep proving ourselves worthy to Him becomes supplanted by a heart that simply, purely loves Him.