We all want to be good. It's just so hard sometimes. Up until recently I would typically cut myself a break, because my belief was that deep down inside, I was only human. I thought that if I reached far enough outside of who I am, I could get ahold of a better me. My reach always came a bit short.
Recently and thankfully, the Bible has brought to my attention how dead wrong I was about who we really are. We don't have to reach out to be more like Christ, but in. Better yet, we just have to 'be'. We became our better selves the moment we first believed. How precious did that Grace appear indeed!
We were born into sin, as we were born in the image of Adam. (Adam and Eve were the only ones born in the image of God, but lost God's image in the fall; hence the need for a rebirth.) Unbelievers are blinded by the lies of satan who is the god of this world, (2 Corinthians 4:4) and lovers of darkness rather than light. (John 3:19)
Once we are saved (believe with all our heart that God sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, and raised Him from the dead) God indwells us with His Holy Spirit and we are born again. (John 3:3) By doing so, He opens our heart so that our eyes can see and our ears can hear the truth. (John 16:13) The truth swallows up the lies (John 1:5) and is so awesome that we want to come out into the light to see more.
As believers born again in Christ, we are God's adopted children, whom He has given the same eternal and perfect love He had for his Son Jesus. Our new identity is forever flawless! (Romans 6) No longer do we have to strive to be precious in his eyes…we already are! What we do does not make us people of God, being people of God should make us do what we do. Most unfortunately we still have our humanity with all of it's temptations and lies hanging around. Yet the truth of who we really are is ample fuel to give our human engines all the love, joy and peace we need while still here on this Earth.
Which brings us to the best part yet…when we shed our decaying bodies at our death, and get to finally live in eternal bliss with our Lord and Savior. (1 Corinthians 2:9)
I like to think my daughter was actually a child evangelist, who would ask people if they were a good believer, or a bad believer. I know I want to be a good believer, and am very happy to have learned that it is not only within my reach, but if I truly rest in Christ, it is within me.
Please remember, BIBLE BAIT is written by a novice Bible study student, not a Bible scholar. If something doesn't look quite right to you, dig into God's word. The one thing I promise you is that you won't get bored!
Many thanks to my Bible study friends who proof-read BIBLE BAIT every week.
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