At some point, as Christians, we all realized a time in our lives when our world was void of God… missing His purpose for us as well as his teachings and in turn missing His blessings! To go a step further, many of us have also realized that regardless of all the Bible studies and church sermons and “God things” we fill our lives with, we still are not living our lives in a way that is pleasing to Him… whether it be that we are not faithful to Him, don’t have significant faith in Him (and those are two entirely separate concepts, so please don’t confuse one with the other!); whether we are not obedient, don’t exhibit love and understanding and compassion, are not living to minister His good news to others, backbiting, lusting, gossiping, or just plainly making the same simple mistakes over and over; whatever the problem is, it’s time to realize that speaking of Him and making His Word align with our lives is not going to cut it. A life like that is NOT a life with Jesus.
God’s Word is not to be compromised – it is YOUR LIFE that should compromise in order to align with His Word, not the other way around. Will we all always fall short? Definitely. Will we all always make careless mistakes, say things we don’t mean, and miss the mark with opportunities He’s given us? Of course. Will we ever be perfect? Nope. Never. There is a huge difference in acting and being. Many people do a great job of acting the part – only God knows who is actually up for the challenge and who is LIVING a life up to par with HIS standards… Who else knows? YOU! You know if you are acting or being. However, in our world today it seems as though as long as we convince others we are “being” that ends up being acceptable for us. Uh, uh, uh… If you spend your time trying to create an image before others, you are only wasting your time and you are ignoring the One in your life who actually matters – the Lord.
Am I perfect? Hahahaaaahahahahaaaa!!! Oh, I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. That is a hyterical question LOL Noooooot by ANY means am I anywhere near being perfect. What makes me comfortable with that? Well, I suppose my willingness to evaluate and reevaluate myself, admit when I’m wrong, repent, learn, and move forward knowing that I will make more mistakes but committed to learning from each of them all the while continuing to move forward in Him! Oh, boy… Have I ever cheated? Stolen? Cursed? Broken a law? Been dishonest? Hurt someone intentionally? Been selfish? Acted out of hatred, greed, envy, or anger? SURE I HAVE! Proud of any of that? Not at all. Ashamed of who I am. Not at all. God has given me opportunities to grow and I am thankful for them. Some of His tests I passed… many I failed, miserably. The point is that when we fall flat on our bums, we have to seek Him and let Him be our guide as to how long we should stay down, how we should get up, and where we should go from “here”…
THAT, my friends, is a life with Jesus. A life of comfort and peace, confidence and help, love and learning, mistakes and repentance, acceptance of who we are as well as acceptance of others and the decisions they make, a life spent loving everyone no matter what – and not judging them, but embracing them along with their flaws, sins, and misunderstandings and LOVING God into them! Talking at people about God doesn’t help them love Him… being human, living a REAL life full of pains, joys, frustrations, excitement, tears, laughter – a full life… a life of abundance and scarcity, a life with ups and downs… a life in which a significant amount of time is spent in prayer, leaning on God, and trusting Him to carry us when we are too weary to walk as well as trusting Him to carry others. We cannot save people. God never left us with that responsibility – He sent us a savior… a pure, perfect savior. The only thing He asked from us is that we believe in Him – that we trust Him and live a life of FAITH. He asked of us not that we be PERFECT, but that we have a desire to be obedient because of our faith and that we do our best to follow Him. He asked that WHEN – not IF, but WHEN – we mess up, that we apologize and allow Him to forgive us – BUT that we must forgive others in order for Him to do so. He asked that because of our faith, that we live a life driven by LOVE – not judgment or arrogance.
Simple enough. So, in the words of Martin Lawrence, “What the pro’lem is??”
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