Several years ago, I went to Camp Electric where I first heard NF perform. I immediately loved his music. And more than the music, I loved his lyrics.
Now, if you've ever heard any of NF's music, you might say "wow. that's kind of dark." Yes, it is, but he is real. He isn't just producing music that the majority of people want to hear.
His song "All I Have" is one of my favorites. In that song, some of the lyrics include "I don't live for the world, I live for the King," "I stand behind these words I'm a Christian but I'm not perfect," and "All I ever wanted was somebody to hear me."
These lyrics are so relatable. The lyric that really stuck with me is "I'm a Christian but I'm not perfect" because I think so many times we, as Christians, try to put on the persona that everything is fine and that we have no problems. That in and of itself is a problem though.
If we are constantly acting like we are perfect but the people around us see that, it's definitely not going to lead them to Christ. And if it does, they are going to have a rude awakening when their life doesn't all of a sudden start going smoothly.
The Christian life isn't supposed to be pain free. It's not supposed to be all smooth sailing. That's what life in Heaven will be like but not here on Earth.
Honestly, I don't know where that notion comes from. The disciples did not live a painless life.
Paul was imprisoned, chased out of towns, flogged, and killed.
Peter and John were arrested and flogged.
James was killed.
Silas was imprisoned.
I'm not saying that we are going to be imprisoned or killed. I'm just saying that we should own our faith more. The disciples owned it without any hesitation.
That's the kind of faith I want to have. We sing songs about being caught up in the presence of Jesus and sitting at his feet. We sing that we are sorry for just going through the motions or coming with our own agenda. But do we really mean that stuff?
It has become a priority in my life to ask the the Lord what his plan is and how I fit into it. In society today, we try to flip that around and make it about us.
When we read our Bibles, we even try to find ourselves in the passages. We shouldn't be looking for ourselves. We should be looking for Jesus, because when we look for Jesus, He will show us His heart instead of our sinful hearts.
So, yes, I'm a Christian, but I am far from perfect. I am selfish sometimes. I am insecure sometimes. I sin everyday. I don't always love people like I should. Those few statements don't even cover half of my flaws.
That's okay though. Do you know why that's okay? Because Jesus's love already covered me. He already took the punishment on the cross, and more importantly, He rose from the grave and took the victory.
And that's why we sing the lyrics we do along with why we read our Bibles and commit our lives to Him. And that's why it's so important for us to be honest with ourselves and others. We are all dirty nasty sinners.
