THE GOOD NEWS
THE GOOD NEWS
The Creator of the universe loves you and wants a relationship with you. God calls you His child and says that you are awesomely and wonderfully made! (Psalms 139). He says that He has an amazing plan for your life: "'for I know the plans I have for you', declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'" (Jeremiah 29:11).
God doesn't demand that you change, and He doesn't ask you to 'clean up' your life. He invites you to call on Him wherever you are and just as you are: "For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13).
God promises that when you call on Him, He will give you a new life and a fresh start (Ezekiel 36:26), rest from your burdens, your striving, and your pain (Matthew 11:28), and that He will forgive and forget all of your wrongdoings and mistakes forever (Isaiah 43:25).
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
What does the Bible actually say?
What are Christians supposed to do?
The bible actually tells us that God commands Christians to Love: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39). God is first, and other people are second. That order can sometimes lead Christians to justify unloving behaviour towards others, but a Christian cannot profess to love God without actually loving others. With that said, love does not mean accepting a person's actions (see below, "love does not rejoice in unrighteousness").
What does it mean to Love?
The bible gives a beautiful description of what love is: "Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of wrong suffered, it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails". (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). We can all use this verse to assess our own actions and determine if they are loving or not.
Aren't Christians just hypocrites?
Too often those who profess to be Christians are also the ones who say one thing but do another behind closed doors. These people judge and point out flaws in others, but do the same things. The bible actually tells us that God hates hypocrites. To those 'holier-than-thou' people, Jesus says: "you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." (Matthew 23:27-28).
Christians aren't perfect, but Jesus actually says, "he who is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone" (John 8:7). This means that we aren't supposed to judge other people (throw stones). Instead, God calls us to recognize that we are all flawed, we all make mistakes, and we all have wrong motives from time to time.
Jesus tells us that every action is rooted in a motive of the heart: anger, lust, love, joy, etc. And while we may not do the exact same thing as other people, the motives of our hearts are all the same. For this reason, we should not judge others. God says that when we do, we are actually casting judgment on ourselves: "you foolish person, everyone of you who passes judgment; for in that matter in which you judge someone else, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things." (Romans 2:1).