St. Francis de Sales
Our imperfections must not give us pleasure; indeed we should say with the holy Apostle, "Unhappy man that I am: who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"[Rom. 7:24] But neither must they astonish us nor take away our courage. We must, indeed, draw from them submission, humility, and distrust of ourselves, but not discouragement, nor affliction of heart, much less distrust of the love of God toward us. So God does not love our imperfections and venial sins, but He loves us greatly in spite of them. Again, the weakness and infirmity of the child displeases the mother, yet she does not stop loving it, but even loves it tenderly and with compassion. In the same way, although God does not love our imperfections and venial sins, He does not cease to love us tenderly. Therefore, David had reason to say to our Lord, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak."[Ps.6:3 (RSV = Ps 6:2)]
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