My identity as Abba's child is not an abstraction or tap dance into religiosity. It is the core truth of my existence. Living in the wisdom of accepted tenderness profoundly affects my perception of reality, the way I respond to people and their life situations...Whenever I allow anything but tenderness and compassion to dictate my responses to life--be it self-righteous anger, moralizing, defensiveness, the pressing need to change others, carping criticism, frustration at others' blindness, a sense of spiritual superiority, a gnawing hunger of vindication--I am alienated from my true self. My identity as Abba's child becomes ambiguous, tentative, and confused...The way of tenderness...seeks to see with penetrating clarity. The compassion of God in our hearts opens our eyes to the unique worth of each person. The other is "ourself"; and we must love him in his sin as we were loved in our sin.
~Brennan Manning, "Abba's Child"