O
orangecat
Guest
What comes to your mind when you think about Christians? Do you think of preppy people who act as if they walk on pillars of clouds while they toss food to the hungry with fairy god-mother-like arms? Do you think of people who have nothing to say but what you’re doing wrong, or who have nothing to say but embrace love like Joel Osteen, “Love! Love! Oooshy gooshy! Blah! Love!”. You may see Christians as something too good to be true as if it’s a façade like the Stepford wives. You avoid them thinking that you’ll never relate to them or to their experiences.
Well, folks it’s true. We are unfortunately real people just like you. We fight, we bicker, we gossip, we divorce, and sometimes we kill our young. We have emotions of hate and fear. We have anxiety and bitterness. We have regrets and sometimes secrets. We have experiences we, too, wish we could forget. Thankfully, this is not where our story ends.
You see, Christianity is not a category that you fit into. It is not defined by what you do or what you say, but rather it is defined of what has been done for you and said on you behalf through Jesus Christ’s work on the Cross and resurrection from the tomb and your responses to that gift.
You think that we walk on cloud pillars on our own accord? Definitely not true! You think that we came out of our lowest valleys on our own? That some how we had the strength to climb out of our mud puts of despair?
Our stories begin at the foot of Jesus Christ’s Cross. Some of you see us right at the beginning of that path where we are being taught and where we mess up the most. Some of you see us in the middle where the race has begun to weary us, and some of you see us at the end where we are just starting to get it down.
Whichever part of the walk of faith you may see us on, we know that we are not better than you. We remember where we came from, but it’s where we’re going that now that makes us different. It’s knowing that we have been forgiven, that we have been healed, that we have hope, and that we have victory over the grave that we were once belonging to.
So, yes we are real people. We are real people who once had a sickness, but then we met the Great Physician. This gift of healing and of hope is not mutually exclusive. It is offered to all those who seek Him, because he “…is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9b ESV). “… if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:9-11 ESV)
Well, folks it’s true. We are unfortunately real people just like you. We fight, we bicker, we gossip, we divorce, and sometimes we kill our young. We have emotions of hate and fear. We have anxiety and bitterness. We have regrets and sometimes secrets. We have experiences we, too, wish we could forget. Thankfully, this is not where our story ends.
You see, Christianity is not a category that you fit into. It is not defined by what you do or what you say, but rather it is defined of what has been done for you and said on you behalf through Jesus Christ’s work on the Cross and resurrection from the tomb and your responses to that gift.
You think that we walk on cloud pillars on our own accord? Definitely not true! You think that we came out of our lowest valleys on our own? That some how we had the strength to climb out of our mud puts of despair?
Our stories begin at the foot of Jesus Christ’s Cross. Some of you see us right at the beginning of that path where we are being taught and where we mess up the most. Some of you see us in the middle where the race has begun to weary us, and some of you see us at the end where we are just starting to get it down.
Whichever part of the walk of faith you may see us on, we know that we are not better than you. We remember where we came from, but it’s where we’re going that now that makes us different. It’s knowing that we have been forgiven, that we have been healed, that we have hope, and that we have victory over the grave that we were once belonging to.
So, yes we are real people. We are real people who once had a sickness, but then we met the Great Physician. This gift of healing and of hope is not mutually exclusive. It is offered to all those who seek Him, because he “…is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9b ESV). “… if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:9-11 ESV)