2/5/20

I grew up in church. I have seen all the sides of Christianity. I have seen people who have gone through some serious stuff and were heading down horrible paths, fall to their knees and become a completely different person. I have seen people who have been in the church for years run the other way. I have seen those who act the most holy have the biggest secrets.

I grew up in the church and I HATE religion.

I hate the thought of having to act a certain way to be loved. I hate the thought of having to dress a certain way to fit in. I hate the thought of having a check list of things that I need to do to be considered a good human. I hate that my struggles are viewed as weakness or a lack of faith.

Jesus did NOT say that you have to get your act together to be enough. He did NOT say you have to dress a certain way or do certain things to be loved.

He said come AS YOU ARE.

But don’t stay that way.

He loves us for exactly as we are. He even died because he loves you so much and could not stand the thought of living without you. He wants to grow with you and walk with you through your hard times. He wants to help you become who you were created to be. Even if you hate him and don’t believe any of this, he loves you and died for you anyways.

I think people forget that just because you learn about God and have knowledge about God DOES NOT make you a “mini God.” You are still human. You still have struggles, flaws, and insecurities.

You could love the crap out of God and still struggle and mess up. That does not mean that you are not enough. That means that you are human. There will NEVER be a time on this earth where you won’t have struggles or flaws.

Nothing that you do will ever make you unlovable.

Nothing that you do will ever make you perfect.

You are human. You are flawed. You are broken. You have issues. Welcome to the club. I am not giving you permission to go out and do whatever you want and be stupid.

I am saying at the end of the day you could be doing your absolute best and still mess up. That is LIFE. That will happen. That does not mean something is wrong with you, it simply means that you are human.

I did not come to this Earth to learn about Jesus and then act better than those who have not heard of him. I came to this earth to love everyone regardless of what they have done or what they believe. I am NO better than anyone.

I want to give people space to simply be who they are. I want to love them exactly where they are. Smack dab in the middle of their mess and imperfections. You don’t have to be perfect in order to be enough. You are not crazy for being human.

You are enough even after you make a big mistake.

You are loved in the midst of your mess.

You have permission to be a masterpiece and a work in progress at the same time.

From someone who struggles with being human.

From someone who falls short every single day,

From someone who loves people for exactly who they are,

From someone who loves Jesus and hates religion,

From someone like you,

Bela.