tightrope

"We are all wretched. We are all beautiful."

"I'm walking the tightrope of identity. I've got Jesus in my heart but sin on my sleeve."

Christianity is a walk of careful treading. We must be careful what we think, what we say, what we subject ourselves to, what we consume, what we believe. It is laborious. Impossible, if not for the power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

One of the most difficult things I have found about the Christian religion is the principle upon which the whole religion builds upon: that we are sinners and yet that we are forgiven. "I am wretched!" My thoughts often echo the apostle Paul's sentiment from Romans 7:24. "Yet, I am beautiful!" Through the power of Jesus Christ I myself can finish with the same conclusion as Paul - that I am redeemed; delivered through His blood. 

There is a fine line that Christians must locate. It is the line between insecurity and pride. We cannot be so insecure as to think that we are not worthy of God's love, but we cannot be so prideful as to think that we are above His grace. This is a line that I have struggled to walk in my days as a devoted Christian. I have struggled with issues of guilt and condemnation because of  things that I have done and the way that I was brought up. But the Bible says that "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17). Through no strength of my own, I find the power of Christ Jesus; the power of His love and forgiveness. This is a radical thing. That the Almighty God would be forgiving of sinners. But it is the truth that the Christian religion clings to. It is the truth that defines us. If we choose to believe anything other than this truth, we will not be able to walk fully in the light, but will habitually be walking in darkness. We should not be prideful, but we should have full confidence in Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit. We should not be insecure, but rather secure in His blood that has washed us of all unrighteousness. 

So, my friends, I pray that you have accepted the wonderful and fundamental truth. If you have not, I pray that by the power of the Holy Spirit you would turn from the lies that Satan has told you regarding your sin and run into the embrace of the Holy and loving God. I can promise you that if you do, it will save you life