Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law.
Galatians 2:16
Growing up I always thought that Christians were a group of people who were very conservative, didn’t celebrate Halloween, and had to follow a strict way of living. Since I grew up Catholic and my parents didn’t practice such a strict lifestyle so I really didn’t see myself as a “Christian.” When I first became a Christian in 2017 I was also kind of lost about the whole meaning behind Christianity. Did it mean that I was now suppose to follow a strict lifestyle; pray all the time, and change all of my ways? Today I’m a little further in my faith and I’ve come to understand the very common phrase in the Christian community, “It’s a relationship, not a religion.” In Galatians, Paul talks about how we are already made right with God by just having faith in what Jesus did on the cross for us. There is nothing more we need to do. So what does that mean for us? For me I’ve been learning that the more I pray to God the more that He truly does change me. When I first became a Christian I felt this pressure to change all of my ways and become this “cookie cutter” no cursing, smoking, or drinking Christian. Yet in my heart my ways truly hadn’t change. I had to learn through difficult circumstances that change really doesn’t come from our own strength. It also doesn’t come simply by accepting Jesus, it’s a start, but still it’s a process. As long as we are alive, we will always fall short, but thank God we are not made right by what we do, but by who He is. It’s so hard sometimes to accept ourselves as crazy as we are and be grateful that the God of the universe is a good one. We can listen to people preach about God and tell us what to do, what’s right, what’s wrong, but when we open the word and read for ourselves and spend time in His presence, that’s when we’re able to truly get a greater understanding of who God is. I always feel the closest to God when I’m reading His word, praying, or just talking to friends about life and what God is doing in our lives. I understand that listening to a sermon is a really important way to feed our relationship, but the law is simple…faith. So at the end of the day I know that I’m bound to mess up because I’m human, but God has already forgiven me and loves me. The only thing I need to do is keep God in my life through prayer, reading the Bible, worship music, fellowship, and little by little maybe my ways will change, maybe not fast, maybe just a little, or maybe somethings may not change at all, but either way I’m happy to know that my worth isn’t determined by what I do, but who He is. So know that for yourself. You are loved and cherished. God loves us more than we could ever be loved by anyone, and more than we love ourselves.
Have an awesome blessed week ahead of you.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life 