Not Perfect

^23" For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;
²⁴ But, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." 
Romans 3:23-24

News Flash.

Christians are not perfect.

I mean, you already knew that right?

I hope you didn't ever get the impression that I thought I was perfect?  

Because, Christians are SO not perfect. 

We make lots of mistakes.  

We sin in our anger.

We covet.  We lust.  We think impure thoughts. 

We lie.  We cheat...you name it.  

We do things we shouldn't.

We look at things we shouldn't.  

We struggle with lots of stuff.  

We are broken. 

We are a mess.

But, at some point on our sinful journey we recognized our desperate need for a Savior.  

We finally saw our sin for what it was and we realized, WOW....I'm a hot mess.   

We were finally able to see that no one is truly good...no not one.    

We looked around at the glorious creation surrounding us and thought...there is just no way that this perfect balance just came to be.  

There is no way that life could be this miraculously designed without the existence of one able to do the miraculous. 

We felt a strong tug on our hearts...a beckoning, a warm and radiant embrace.  

We took a step of faith and asked Jesus to take the reigns in our life.  Surrendered control.  

We began to read our Bibles with a new sense of urgency and saw just how perfectly the dots lined up when viewed through scripture. 

 It's not as cheesy as it sounds.  But, it is mind blowing and eye opening.  

The meaning of life reached exponential depths and everything became shockingly vibrant.  

We never became perfect nor will we ever be.

But, we got covered for life.  We got forgiven because, we saw our desperate need for it. 

Every day we learn.  We fall.  We grow.  We trust in someone who never failed.

Jesus was in fact perfect and there is none wiser. 

So who else could better set the standard for morality and what is truly good? 

Man's morality changes with the tides and has no stable foundation.  

Man's definition of good is incredibly full of holes.  Have you ever really thought about that? 

Churches aren't full of perfect people.

Churches are just full of people.

People that want to learn more about the purpose of life.

People that are terribly broken and have come to realize that only one man can really put the pieces in their lives back together. 

People that finally surrendered to the tug on their hearts.

People that have asked Christ into their hearts.

People that want Him to take the lead.  People that love him and are deeply, passionately and infinitely LOVED by Him

So, please don't be so quick to judge a Christian.  

And Christians please don't be so quick to judge one another.  

Can't we just be real?

We are all on an imperfect journey with a perfect Jesus.  

And we are all in different places on that journey.  

And whew.

Jesus died for all of us sinners.

Even me.
YEAH!! 

I can't tell you how thankful I am.

If you haven't ever asked him to take the reigns in your life,

If your mind is open to the realization that maybe something is in fact missing...

I promise you don't have to get all your stuff together first.

You don't have to be perfect or anywhere near it.

You don't have to be fake or hide who you really are.

Just come.

  Call on Jesus.  
Then we can be sinners saved by Jesus together.
It's that simple. 

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'.
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say… "I am a Christian,"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble,
And need CHRIST to be my guide.

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak,
And need HIS strength to carry on.

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed,
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not claiming to be perfect.
My flaws are far too visible,
But God believes I am worth it.

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches,
So I call upon His name.

When I say ... "I am a Christian,"
I'm not holier than thou.
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace somehow.

                                                                       Maya Angelou