Here’s some thoughts I have after today’s sermon that I thought I would share.

Part of being a Christian means understanding that NONE of us are worthy of God’s love and blessings.

When people say that Christians think they’re better than others it makes me laugh because, the hardest part of being a Christian is that we know that we will be judged one day. We do strive to be worthy, which is impossible, and that may come off as being pretentious, but being a Christian in this world is hard and we feel shame in things that most people don’t even think about.

It would be much easier for me to think that there’s no consequences for my actions and that I can live however I want, and do whatever feels good and seems fun, but that’s not what I believe. The closer I draw to God, the more conviction I feel by doing things I shouldn’t, or keeping company I shouldn’t. If that comes off as judgement, then it just does. God does tell us not to judge others, and that’s a really hard thing for all people to do, but he also warns us what happens when we aren’t equally yoked in friendships and relationships.

I recently unfriended someone I love and care about, but sometimes people aren’t meant to be in your life forever. I just can’t get past certain things and I can’t do the awkward silence thing that we’ve been doing for 2.5 years now. We were there for each other when we were supposed to have been, and now we’ve grown in different directions. No hard feelings, and moving past it is better. It’s like letting each other off the hook instead of suffering through our extreme differences of opinions and eventually really resenting and hating each other. I don’t want to do that. I pray that she has an incredible life and that God continues to bless her. I will and have missed her for a long time now, but I also don’t understand who she is anymore and I’m pretty sure that’s a mutual feeling.

Should I judge less? Sure, and so should those judging me and pretty much everyone breathing. Chances are if I’m judging you, you’re probably judging me too. Fingers point both ways most of the time. We all are judgmental at times, whether we admit it or not.

I have always been able to admit that my biggest hurdle in my spiritual journey has been forgiveness and loving people that I find hard to love. I’ve talked about it with my church group and I pray about it a lot. We all struggle with sin, but that’s a really hard one for me.

So moving on.. another thing we touched on today-is believing enough for God?

Believing IN God is easy for me, because I’ve felt him so strongly in my life. But believing is absolutely not enough. Even the devil “believes” in God, so it’s kind of a moot point. Believing is a very small part of our faith. You have to walk by faith. You have to trust the he is little by little helping shape our hearts and we must make a decision to follow him. Belief without any action is empty. So everytime I eliminate something out of life, I’m proud of that because I know that sin separates me from Christ. And every time I do things I shouldn’t, I feel shame, and we know shame comes directly from the devil, but this is what begins to happen when we start trying to live a Christ filled life. We start to have a deeper conscience about things. I believe that being convicted by our actions is a sign of spiritual maturity, and I find myself wrestling with my decisions a lot more than I used to.

We’re all on different journeys, but I’m convicted and screw up all the time. It’s what we do. We’re constantly evolving and changing. Some things are harder to get past than others, and some sins are hard to get out of our lives. But that’s why repentance and grace are so important. By grace he forgives me for where I fall short, and with each day he gives us mercy.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).