Let’s Talk About Jesus

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…” Romans 1:16

I am a Christian. This is not something that I’ve ever tried to hide or cover up. In fact, when I was younger, I know I didn’t get invited to participate in a lot of activities with my friends and sorority sisters because I was “the Christian”. I was never ashamed of who I was and I think people actually respected the fact that I stood firm on my beliefs. But somehow, I think I still missed the mark. I was being selfish with the Jesus that I loved and served so dearly. Meaning, I didn’t really share him with anybody. I was good at inviting people to church but always struggled with telling them about Jesus. But I have come to learn that the world doesn’t need “church”. The world needs Jesus. He is the source of all hope, the answer to our problems, the lover of our soul, the One we can turn to for help in any situation. I have learned that it is not religion that saves us, but our relationship with Jesus Christ. I can even speak on that personally.

I grew up in church. My family went to church Every. Single. Sunday. I sang in the choir, served on the usher board, taught Sunday School, was part of the youth mission, yes, I did it all. I knew all the bible stories and could even recite the books of the bible. I had all of the religion, but lacked the relationship. Now don’t get me wrong, I am so thankful for the foundation that I had because it helped me tremendously when I went through those crazy college years. Like a lot of people, I was out doing things I had no business doing with people I had no business doing them with. But eventually, the lifestyle I was living left me in a sad and lonely place. But it was Jesus that saved me. I mean He literally saved me. One time, I was in a very scary situation and I called on the name of Jesus and instantly things turned around (I will share that situation at another time). Jesus has not only physically saved me, but also emotionally and spiritually. Knowing that I have a purpose, knowing that I am loved, knowing that I can do all things through Him gives me such a powerful outlook on life. Things may not always go according to my plan, but I know that He has the master plan and it will all work out for my good. The best part of having a relationship with Jesus is knowing that when I leave this earth, I’ll get to live with Him in paradise. I do believe that hell is real, and I don’t want to take any chances when it comes to spending eternity there.

I am so glad that someone took the time to tell me about Jesus. If I never heard about Him and then took the time to get to know Him, I shudder to think about where I would be in my life right now (and if I would even be alive). I wrote all of this to say, if you know Jesus please tell somebody about Him. You could help save a life. If you don’t know Jesus but want to, just ask me how to meet Him. He’s one of my best friends!

It’s Not In Vain

2010 was not my year.  I struggled financially, physically, mentally, and emotionally.  So much to the point that I hated my life.  Not so much that I wanted to harm myself, but I actually had thoughts that if I did die, it really wouldn’t be that bad because it would be an escape from a life that I really had no desire to live any longer.  I honestly didn’t care whether or not I lived to see another day.  But I thank God that he cared enough for me to pull me out of that frame of my mind.  In the midst of my despair I felt him trying to pull me closer to himself and the closer I got to back to him, the more hope I gained back each day.  Though what I was going through was difficult, God allowed me to see that it was not in vain.

For most of my life, I  never had to struggle with anything.  I never really studied hard but I always made good grades.  I never really worked hard, but I always had money.  I was always well liked and had friends.  I grew up with both parents in the home and I was surrounded by a great big loving extended family.  Yes, my life was great and it was easy.  But it wasn’t because of anything I did and it certainly wasn’t because I was living upright and holy because I wasn’t.  It was only because of God’s grace, mercy, and favor.  Because I had never really been through anything in life, I really didn’t understand other people and why they let their problems get them down.  But today, I see with new eyes why we shouldn’t judge others.

You never really know what a person is going through until you’ve walked in their shoes.  We can’t condemn the alcoholic because we haven’t experienced the pain they are trying to soothe with every drink.  We can’t condemn the promiscuous young man or woman because we haven’t faced the rejection and loneliness they are trying to protect themselves from.  We can’t judge the person who buys a $300 designer handbag or a $200 pair of sneakers before they pay the light bill because we can’t feel the reality of poverty they are trying to escape.  I’m not saying that any of these things is the right thing to do, but having experienced each of these scenarios, I can no longer judge the person who does these things because I’ve felt the sting of the pain and understand why they do what they do.

Our Christian response should not be condemnation but instead putting on the love of Christ to help them through it.  Instead of cutting people down for their sins, we have to minister to that broken place.  Sin is used as a band-aid fix but band-aids can only hold for so long before they fall off.  Another problem with band-aids is that they don’t heal wounds, they merely cover them up. And when some wounds, both physical and spiritual, are left untreated they only get worse.  But I’m thankful that God gives us more than a box of band-aids to fix our problems.  He gives us the cure for every sin-sick disease we have.  And that cure is Jesus Christ.