Christians are Terrible!

Galatians 2:16 (NLT) — 16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”

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You want to know why there are a lot of Christians that are terrible and hypocritical and hateful? Why there are Christians who are more likely to point a finger at you and call you a name than to actually help you or show you any love? Why there are Christians that think there sole purpose is to be a Republican and hate gays/lesbians and tell others when they are in sin?

Most "Christians" don't get that being a Christian is all about Jesus! What do I mean by this? Being a Christian is often looked at like it's some set of rules and the better you can keep those rules the more that God will love you.

So, if this is the "christianity" that I know, and I'm trying really hard not to look at porn, when I find out that you're looking at porn I'm going to condemn you! Why should I try really hard to stay away from it and you get to enjoy it the whole time!

You know who Jesus hated the most? Hypocritical, judgmental, religious people. This is what he said of them...

Matthew 23:4 (NLT) — 4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

Matthew 23:13 (NLT) — 13 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.

Matthew 23:23–28 (NLT) — 23 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. 24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel! 25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. 27 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. 28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Christianity is not morality. It's actually the opposite! Christianity says, you can't ever please God. Nothing you do will ever be enough. You (to the contrary of popular opinion) are terrible. 

BUT!!!!!

Jesus....

Matthew 9:13 (NLT) — 13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

The secret to fulfillment is not more things! You have things and that's not working for you! It's not loving yourself! You are terrible and sinful and can't even live up to your own moral standards! You're not the solution here, you're the problem!

The secret to fulfillment is not looking inward, it's not looking from side to side longing for more money, more stuff, it's looking to the cross.

John 6:35 (NLT) — 35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Luke 19:10 (NLT) — 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

John 3:17 (NLT) — 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

What does it mean to be a Christian? It means that you've stopped trying to earn your way into heaven. It means you realize your need for a Savior because you can't do it! It means that you place your eternal destination in the hands of Jesus and rely on Him and His atoning death on the cross to take care of it all.

This frees you up to be nice to people! The gospel is that in Jesus, you have everything that you would ever need.....right now! In/through Christ you've been reconciled to God, and the worst thing that could ever happen to you (death) has been redeemed by Jesus so that all death would mean for you is that you get to see Jesus.

Hebrews 2:14–15 (NLT) — 14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

When you have everything you need already, you're free to love people who don't deserve it. You're free to forgive people who hate you, you're free to show kindness to people who only show you disgust. You're free from trying to be enough, from trying to impress others, from trying to be accepted.

In Jesus you are accepted, in Jesus you are loved. Jesus is enough to satisfy your desires, Jesus has forgiven you when you were his enemy, Jesus has shown kindness to you when you were ill-deserving of it.....dwell in what Jesus has done for you and you'll find that these qualities will start showing up in your own life without you even trying.

Isaiah 45:22 (NLT) — 22 Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other.

1 John 4:9–10 (NLT) — 9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.