“Aren’t you a Christian?”

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

Romans 12:3 NIV

Many times Christians are ridiculed and criticized for not being “Christian enough.” I have to admit, being called to be like Jesus is a pretty high standard to live by. Jesus was someone who fully loved, didn’t sin, was crucified by basically the entire world, and loved it anyways… yeah kinda tough to follow. I’ve realized that even though we are Christians our human nature is still as rough as anyone else’s. Christians are just as tempted to be horrible as much as we are called to be like Jesus. We’re tempted both by the enemy and our flesh. We have to be aware of this and continue to walk towards that straight and narrow path, even when it’s not easy. I’ve encountered a number of difficult relationships with Christians and non Christians. However it’s always more painful and frustrating when a Christian behaves in a mean and hateful way, than a non Christian. As a Christian we are called to love others and forgive, but sometimes as a human it can honestly just be difficult. I’ve seen many people hurt each other and sometimes non Christians can be more loving than an actual Christian, but we have to remember that nobody is Jesus except Jesus. We are called to higher standards yes, but let’s remember people are just people. We’re all tempted to gossip, to hate, to be jealous and ugly, but also we’re are called to love, forgive, encourage, and grow in our faith with Jesus. Like I’ve said many times before, it’s a process. Most of the time people’s ugly natures stem from an insecure and unhealed place of their own. No one is free from being tempted to be a “bad Christian,” we all have a choice and we all have a responsibility to heal ourselves to limit that ugliness in us as much as possible. On that same note, we must forgive and give grace to people who are hurt and spill that hurt on to others. Only then can we really be effective for God. Instead of judging other Christians being like “Aren’t you a Christian?” Let’s try our best to extend some grace, because let’s face it, maybe you’ve also been that ugly Christian in some way to somebody or you struggle with some kind of sin…maybe not.. but maybe. I know I have and still do, and that’s why I try my best to ask God to help me be more like Him everyday. So just like Paul says let’s not think of ourselves better we actually are. Yes we’re Christians, but we can be sucky humans as well. So let’s give each other and ourselves grace.

Have a blessed week.

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