Growing up, I was not raised in a household with structured religion. My mother was raised catholic and had a less than stellar experience, so she left my decision on religion totally up to me. I have fond memories of midnight mass on Christmas Eve and my illustrated New Testament children's Bible and some Sundays at church with friends, but I did not have the orthodox church experience that many in my hometown did.

I did not really start to explore religion on my own until I was a teenager. I felt that there was something I needed spiritually, so for the first time in my life, I gave structured religion a try. I ended up joining two of my best friends at church every Sunday and for a while, it was exactly what I needed.

One day while listening to the sermon, I was struck by something the pastor said, and not necessarily in a good way. The pastor was a wonderful person, but I found myself more and ore in disagreement with what was being preached to me. I would leave the service and think to myself: "This is not what I believe in". I didn't like leaving the services feeling like a fraud and feeling guilty for standing behind certain things I don't believe in. I decided to take my faith into my own hands and it was the best decision for me. I may not go to church every Sunday and I may not live my life how other Christians believe I should, but the beautiful thing is that my relationship with God is my business and nobody else's.

Society is so polarized these days and just this morning I saw a video calling Bill Nye a pervert because an episode of his new show (which is for adults!!) included a song about sexual fluidity. This woman, who considers herself to be a Christian, was ranting and raving about sin and casting judgment on others. I was originally angry about her response, but once the initial feeling passed, I was sad. People get wrapped up in the sins of others and become full of judgment and even hate. In Romans 5:6-8 the Bible says: "6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." We spend too much time worrying about everyone else's short comings to focus on our own. We are all sinners, every single one of us.

I may not be a "good Christian" by some people's standards and I'm okay with that. I know what's in my heart. I live my life trying to give others a fair chance and be kind. I hold no grudges and I wish no ill will upon others. I wake up every day trying to be a better person than I was the day before and that's more than enough for me. I don't need approval from others to confirm whether I'm a good Christian or not because ultimately, isn't that for God to decide?