Tuesday, May 27, 2014

I Have a Friend Who...

I have a friend who has told a lie.
I have a friend who is covetous of the materialistic things she sees that others have, 
    but she does not.
I have a friend who is a gossip.
I have a friend who is a constant worrier.
I have a friend who is divorced.
I have a friend who was pregnant before she got married.
I have a friend who slept around (a lot) when we were younger.
I have a friend who was raped and feels guilty for it though she shouldn't.
I have a friend who has been to jail.
I have a friend who is married to an alcoholic.
I have a friend who is  a drug addict.
I have a friend who is living with a man she is not married to.
I have a friend who used to openly live in a lesbian relationship.

None of these friends are perfect.  None of them have their acts all together. All of them are flawed.  

Would you like to know the most amazing thing about each and every one of these friends?

They are free!  Free and forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ.

So many times we look at others and think that they have the "perfect" life. Everyone feels that they need to keep up with the Joneses -- and the Joneses are probably trying to keep up with their in-laws.  It's a constant, fruitless race.  My pastor spoke just last Sunday about how great it would be if our lives really were as picture perfect as we portray them to be on Facebook. 

But they aren't.  

Christians get this bad rap of being hypocrites when they do something wrong.  Christianity does not guarantee you a life of no hassles, no slip-ups, or no sin.  It "simply" guarantees that regardless of the hassles, the slip-ups, and the sins, you are FORGIVEN.  That, my friend, is what you call a lifetime guarantee -- an eternal guarantee.

God did not send His Son to die on the cross for a world of perfect goody two shoes who have everything together and do no wrong.  He died because each of us are flawed and sinful. It doesn't matter how bad or good we think we are. It doesn't matter how many items we can add to the grocery list of our wrongdoings. When we call out the name of Jesus and accept the sacrifice that He freely gave to us... all of our imperfections are forgotten.

Jesus died on the cross so that your past sins have been forgiven, your present sins are being forgiven, and your future sins will be forgiven.

Freedom!  

"For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."
                                       Colossians 1:14