I do not want humanity or social virtue. I can be honest and civil, and observe the law of kindness in my actions; but who shall give me humility, meekness, patience, inward purity, and the love of God? (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)
“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
The language that Adam uses above is more than just a man without affection stating some things that are true, but it comes through as indignation or perhaps some degree of disgust. He does not want humanity or social virtue. The things of social virtue such as honesty, civility, and kindness are things that he can do in his own power and in his own strength. Even the most strident pagans can come up with those things. Why is that? Because things like honesty, civility, and kindness can come from nothing but self-love. Humanism can provide us with external morality and sterling examples of ethical behavior, but all of those things are as filthy rags in the sight of a thrice holy God.
A soul that has tasted something of the holiness of God is disgusted with the external and forced things of humanism, civility, and niceness. Those things are artificial and to some degree just plain fake. They are not the real thing, that is, the real holiness and the real life of Christ in the soul. In fact, humanism, civility, and niceness can be nothing more than the flesh trying to assert its own righteousness. There can be people who fight against certain forms of legalism but actually create their own form of legalism with their civility and niceness when those things come from the efforts of the flesh.
The flesh or the fleshly heart is opposed to the spiritual work of the Spirit in the heart of man. The Holy Spirit alone can bring true kindness and true love into the heart, but the flesh wants to work up those things in the strength of self and from self-love and then say that it has those are from the Spirit. The soul that recognizes that civility and niceness comes from the flesh and is opposed to the work of the Spirit will detest the civility and niceness that comes from its own pride, flesh, and self-love. One can look at the life of a politician in many cases and see what it means to be one thing when speaking to the public and yet quite another in private. The politician wants to present things a certain way for one reason and then be what he wants to be in private. So the heart is like that as well. It wants to be civil and nice in public for one reason, perhaps even for the sake of doing so for self, and yet be quite another thing in the heart or in private.
But the soul with spiritual taste buds wants true humility (the emptiness of self) as opposed to be full of self. The soul with spiritual taste buds longs for inward purity rather than external civility. The soul with spiritual taste buds longs for meekness rather than revenge. The soul with spiritual taste buds longs for patience rather than treating others with anger and as object in impatience. The soul with spiritual taste buds longs for the true love of the Spirit as it comes to human beings as the fruit of the Spirit rather than external civility and niceness. Humanity, civility, and niceness or kindnesses have their place when they come by the work of the Spirit. But if they come by the work of the flesh, they are enemies to the Gospel of grace alone and true righteousness.
The people who love the glory of God that shines in Christ by the Spirit long for true spiritual things and the true fruit of the Spirit so that the glory of God would shine in and through them. If one truly loves God and His glory, they will have some degree of detesting the things of their own flesh even if it brings them praise and honor among men. So it is no wonder that Adam expresses his disgust toward the nice things of the flesh (civility and kindness) and longed to be given humility, inward purity, and the love of God. Even the nice things of the flesh are still of the flesh and are opposed to true holiness and are detested by God. We should detest what God detests, even when it is the best fruit we can bring in our own strength, and cry out for God to work in us what is pleasing to Him. After all, if we are to love Him with all of our being we should live in a manner where His glory and His pleasure lives in and is manifested through us.
God Loves... Himself 
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