College is hard. Learning to "adult" is hard. Relationships can sometimes be hard. But over the years, growing up in the society we live in, I have realized that one of the hardest things I have experienced growing up is truly being a Christian.
I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I'm tired of people sugarcoating it. It is not in the slightest bit easy to truly be a Christian and follow God on a daily basis in the world we live in today.
It is a struggle I face every day, and I know I can't be the only one. I am tired of Christians trying to make it look so easy, like we are perfect people.
That is not the reality, not even close.
We are so imperfect. I think that is honestly one of the things that turn non-Christians "off" to Christianity. Instead of trying to act like we are perfect, we should be open about being very imperfect, but put a great emphasis on the fact that the only way we are different is that we let all of our imperfections go to a greater being who paid our debts. He erased all of the bad and continues to erase all of the bad, because we are going to continue to sin.
This is the reason we continue to believe what we believe because we have accepted the fact that no matter how strong and wise we think we may be, we were never meant to handle anything in this world by ourselves. We can sure try, but those of us that have come to the altar have felt the great relief of laying our burdens down and accepting help from the One who can handle anything with ease.
In this society we live in, it is a constant struggle to remind myself of these very reasons I chose this path for my life.
When tragedy happens on every corner, neighbors are filled with hate for one another, people openly disobey everything in the Bible, sex, vulgar language and violence are promoted, negativity is the norm and war is common, how are we supposed to believe there even is a God? Why would this being that is supposed to be so great, allow all of this to happen?
I have been asked to explain this phenomenon many times, in a defense to my religion, and I can't give a perfect explanation. I know that God is light, and all of the bad things in this world are darkness. I know that if we lived in a perfect world, humans would feel no need to turn to God. I know that God allows us to have free will, so He does not control our actions. People choose to sin every day, and God can only sit back in sorrow and hope that the ones who have accepted Him can reach the lost and share His love.
When we are surrounded by the type of world we live in, it is incredibly hard to act as Christians, live for God, and most importantly, not conform to this world. Christians are put down for their beliefs, mocked, ridiculed and even hated in some parts of the world. It takes a true courage that is only found in having God in your heart to go against a world so full of hate for what you believe in.
But it's our job, our duty. We owe this much to our incredible savior to be full of love, to not judge ANYONE, no matter what the color of their skin is, what gender they claim to be, what background they come from, what language they speak, give in every way we can, and spread the word of God as best as we can through all of the hate and mockery.
We don't have to be perfect, we don't have to memorize the whole Bible. God is perfect enough. All we have to do is be real, be approachable, and accept God's help, and we will accomplish so much more than we ever thought possible.
In a world that I imagine only makes God weep, let's each try to be the little light that makes Him proud and brings back His smile because we owe Him that for the immense love and gifts He gives us daily.
For anyone who doesn't know the immense joy and love of having God in your heart, please feel free to message me. God loves you so much and uniquely made you for a great purpose in this world.