This is a difficult saying, but worth remembering to stay on subtle course

"Man's religion is to build up the creature.
God's religion is throw the creature down in the
dust of self-abasement, and to glorify Christ." - J. C. Philpot

Of course it is talking about the Old Man vs. the New Man. There is a deception that can occur when you are building yourself up with spiritual practices that you are really building up the Old Man. Of course you need to make efforts to build yourself up in the faith, but it's the unique 'top down' subtle will - God's will, Real Will, descent of the dove volition - that is true building up.

A person can see how one can get all messed up with a quote like the above. Get it all wrong in many ways. But nevertheless it is a good thing to keep in mind. Not in a moralizing sense, but in the practical sense of just what is being built up, the Old Man or the New Man. False Personality or Real I. Real I glorifies God. False Personality glorifies vanity, worldly pride, and self-will. False Personality glorifies itself. It's resentments. &c.