Beware of viewing your relationship with God as a transactional one. Thinking He’s just repaying you for your works creates a dangerous sense of entitlement when you see your works as good. But, the subtle danger lies in what happens when you see your works as bad. You lose all hope. God to you becomes like a drill sergeant (God forbid), ready to withhold and punish, instead of the One more merciful than a mother to her child, ready to forgive, forbear and give — although you have done nothing to deserve it and cannot repay it in any way.

Yasmin Mogahed (via asplashofserendipity)