Quote from A Course in Miracles Text Chapter 7 - THE GIFTS OF THE KINGDOM.

T-7.X.3. The Holy Spirit will direct you only so as to avoid pain. 2 Surely no one would object to this goal if he recognized it. 3 The problem is not whether what the Holy Spirit says is true, but whether you want to listen to what He says. 4 You no more recognize what is painful than you know what is joyful, and are, in fact, very apt to confuse the two. 5 The Holy Spirit's main function is to teach you to tell them apart. 6 What is joyful to you is painful to the ego, and as long as you are in doubt about what you are, you will be confused about joy and pain. 7 This confusion is the cause of the whole idea of sacrifice. 8 Obey the Holy Spirit, and you will be giving up the ego. 9 But you will be sacrificing nothing. 10 On the contrary, you will be gaining everything. 11 If you believed this, there would be no conflict.