I read that one of the top reasons that Christians give for not sharing the news of Jesus Christ with the people around them is because "people know how I live". They feel like hypocrites--and thus they believe they have no right to share this good news of a Holy God.
It's even more interesting that in many other surveys like the one referenced here, that reason is always in the top five.
Believe me I get it. I've been afraid of the very same thing, for exactly the same reasons but have since learned that it's not my life or my power that I want people to believe in: I want to be evidence to my friends that God is so powerful that he can even get someone like me into heaven! After all, I'm not getting there on my own. I'm going becasue of Jesus Christ who came and conquered sin and death--because I couldn't.
So stop trying to be a "good" Christian, but instead, embrace the grace of God and live a life that gladly accepts this gift. You'll find that if you do that, you'll really begin to enjoy the grace that is given to you and you'll start living a life that is more concerned with the act of love, and is less concerned with behavior modification. Besides: None of us are "good". God has already warned us of that. In Romans Chapter 3, verse 10, we read where Paul is writing to the Romans (referencing Psalm 53 versus 2-3 from the old testament). He said: "As the Scriptures say, "No one is righteous--not even one". Later in Romans (Chapter 7, from about verse 15 onward) Paul exposes his own problem with sin: He confesses that he doesn't understand how he can't seem to stop himself from doing the wrong he knows he doesn't want to do; and somehow the good that he wants to do, he can't do it! This is Paul--the guy who wrote most of the new testament. "Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ." He writes.
If it's good enough for Paul, it's good enough for me. Paul uses his own flawed condition to point the way to Jesus Christ...to encourage others to receive this same grace, and forgiveness he recieves. There have been times I have been so discouraged and would have quit trying if it were not not for the knowledge that even Paul had the same problems with sin that I do.
Don't try to convince others of how "fixed" you've become since you got saved. You're not. I'm not either. The people we come into contact with aren't either. None of us are fixed despite any public image they put out to suggest otherwise...but we are all loved and there is salvation for all who would confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts! So, Shine on and remember,
Jesus loves you and so do I!
About Me
- Brian "Coach" Haack
- Welcome to Flashlight 101. Many people believe that God hates them because that's all Christians have ever told them! Flashlight 101 exists to counter that claim and tell the truth of God's great love for them, you and others. The Bible says (in Romans 5:8) that Christ loved us while we continued to sin. He didn't demand that we somehow change to become worthy of His Love. Knowing that, who are we to edit love, put conditions on it, or decide who we are willing to extend it to? My life was changed by unconditional love. The people who loved me could have called me a sinner for any number of behaviors that were (and sometimes) still are present in my life. They would have been right, but I could never have learned love in this way. You can’t condemn someone and love them at the same time. I thank God for those precious few who loved me and made Jesus real to me. I don’t care who you are, or what Christians have told you in the past: Jesus Loves you! Today, right now, right where you are—he LOVES YOU! And because he does, so do I.
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