I feel like the biggest problem non Christians have with Christianity is the thought that they aren't good enough. They look at the rules and regulations, and realize they don't and never will measure up. And that's where they stop, at their own sin. They don't want to go to church to simply feel worse about themselves and the lifestyles they lead. Church, to a lot of non believers, is a house full of self-righteous people, judgmental people. That's religion. Religion says you have to clean yourself up to come to Christ. It says "do a little better" and "try a little harder." Religion is ridiculous and sets people up for failure! It does nothing to set people free, but only to burden them down with impossible expectations and unreal obligations. Religion is the reason why people don't know Christ. How ironic!
I want to share something so incredible with you all. The reason I am a Christian, the reason I finally let go and gave my life to Christ.
The difference in the concept of religion and the person of Christ!
Religion demands and burdens, Christ gives and sets free.
See, no matter where you are, what you have done or been through, who you are, how much money you have, what color your skin is, where you work or what you drive, christ died for you.
Being a Christian isn't about how much you put in the offering plate on Sunday or who you pretend to be at church. Christ came and died for us to set us free from the burden and slavery of sin.
He doesn't care about anything else but your heart. He desparately seeks you.
He is there, he is real, and he wants to give you so much more than a list of rules to try your best to follow.
See, trying harder will never get you anywhere. We are human and we cannot live up to God's standard alone. We fail, we sin, we mess up. Bottom line.
It is in Christ that we can fully lay ourselves down and allow him to come in and restore everything that is broken. He doesn't call us to "clean up our act" before we receive him. All he asks from us is our hearts. Fully and completely, the broken mess that we are.He wants that. He wants us for real, he wants us for who we are. He loves us. Do you know what love is?
It is unconditional. It reaches beyond the circumstances, it never fails. It is so hard for us to understand that because we have never experienced it from any other person in our lives. We are so used to the distorted image of love... "I'll love you IF you do this for me, IF you never fail me, IF you always make me happy, IF you don't do that, ect." We don't know what it's like for someone to never leave us, for someone to accept us fully for all the brokenness that we are. To forgive us even though we hurt them daily.
To die for us. That's not something we are used to, but it's real and it's the love we experience in Christ.
It's amazing and it's freedom. You don't have to be better or try harder, you simply have to desire a life worth living. You have to want unconditional love and forgiveness. You have to desire Jesus. That's it. He is fully capable of handling your mess, I promise. And He yearns to have a personal relationship with you. He doesn't care about how "good" you are. Cause in reality, you're not. I'm not, but He is! And that's all that we need.
