Christians are one of the most persecuted groups in the world. Not just now, but for the last 2000+ years we have been the target of attacks and discrimination because of our faith. We are lucky today to be in a country that allows us to believe and express our faith freely, and even still, I find that Christians are looked at very differently compared to any other group. Just growing up, I've often heard the phrase "Oh, you do  ? You listen to  ? I'm surprised you are wearing  ?" and not just by fellow Christians, but by outsiders looking inward with a scrutinizing eye. I've always thought this was ironic. From the outward perception, Christians are supposed to be picture-perfect, walking around like Mother Teresa. However, in reality, Christians are the most imperfect people I know. Knowing that we are not perfect and understanding that our only goodness comes from God is a core Christian belief. Nevertheless, we are called to die to our sin and walk as Jesus walked. What does this mean? How can people who are so imperfect walk as a perfect being once did? And if Jesus died for our sins, doesn't that mean that it shouldn't matter what we do here on Earth? Let's dive in.

Romans 3:23 (NIV): "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." I think it is very appropriate to start out with this verse because I want to point out immediately that as humans in the flesh, we NEVER will be perfect. God knows it; Paul, who is speaking to us in Romans, knows it; and I think for any Christian they should also know it. Far too often do I come across a Christian who can't stop beating themselves up over one mistake that they made. Even if it is a small mistake that won't have lasting effects, they feel that they have dissapointed God and begin retreating from God, ashamed and unworthy. 1 John 1:9 (NIV): "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." God knows we are going to mess up and wants us to come to him for forgiveness, where he will freely give it. This spans all the way back to Adam and Eve, where they hid from God after disobeying his order. Furthermore, throughout scripture we can see it repeated how our flesh is sinful. The heart (Jeremiah 17:9), the tongue (James 3:6), the eyes (Proverbs 27:20), the ears (2 Timothy 4:3), and overall the flesh (Matthew 26:41). If you read these verses, you might be thinking, "Wow, being made like this, it seems impossible to not sin," and if you came to this conclusion, you would be correct. "Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins." Ecclesiastes 7:20 (NIV): Any good within us comes from God and the Holy Spirit; we cannot claim these traits as they are not human nature (James 1:17; Galatians 5:22-23; Romans 7:18).

...as humans in the flesh, we NEVER will be perfect.

So does this mean we just give in to our flesh? We can't beat it, so why resist it? Certainly Jesus has already died for our sins and washed us clean, so why worry about what we do on this Earth? Romans 6 goes into depth on being dead to sin and alive in Christ Jesus. Paul explains in this chapter that to truly believe in Christ (to be baptized, renewed, and accept his gift of everlasting life), we must accept that we no longer are slaves to sin (Romans 6:1-2). Before coming to Jesus, there is no way to make it to heaven. To live in the world without Jesus is to live serving sin, which ultimately leads to eternal death. When we become baptized, we begin a new life that leads us to eternal life. Without Him, there is nothing; with Him, we have everything. But understand that when we start this new life in Christ, we serve a new master; we are no longer shackled to sin. Think about it this way: When you start a new high-paying job, do you go back to your previous job with the disrespectful boss and mean coworkers and voluntarily clock in? Or when you find that God-given relationship, do you go back to hanging out and spending time with the ex that hurt and damaged you? If you can say yes to either of those, I encourage you to take that to God in prayer! With these examples, it's very evident that we cannot serve two masters, which Paul goes on to say in Romans 6:16 (NIV): "Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey?". We see James touch on this thought as well, clearly stating that once you befriend the world, you become an enemy of God (James 4:4). This can be a very scary concept to wrap our minds around; certainly the last thing I would want to do is become an enemy of God.

So where does that leave us as Christians and our walk? On one hand, scripture says that we are sinful and cannot avoid it, and on the other hand, scripture is saying that to serve sin is to fall away from God. This is the Christian struggle, and what we often refer to as the straight and narrow path. This is a common metaphor used to describe the challenging but righteous way of following God. In our ignorance before knowledge of God, life is easy, for we do not need to be conscious of the sin that we commit. However, when we begin our walk with Christ, we become convicted of the sin in our lives and become aware of the need to fix it. Paul says in Romans 7:9 (AMP), "I was once alive without [knowledge of] the Law; but when the commandment me [and I understood its meaning], sin became alive, and I died [since the Law sentenced me to death]." In the passage, Paul is talking about the Ten Commandments that came about when God told them to Moses. He goes on to say that because he discovered knowledge of sin, he became a sinner because these laws now convict him of the life he was living. In a similar vein, when we come to believe in God, we have our eyes opened to the reality of sin and are guided toward the narrow path that God has for us, which is much more difficult than living in ignorance. We are called to avoid sin, and when we unavoidably fall into it, we go to God in true repentance and try again with full intent of avoiding falling into sin again. The more we are able to follow the straight and narrow path, the closer we are able to build that relationship with Jesus, growing in grace and securing the promises He has for our eternal lives (Matthew 7:13-14; Matthew 25:21).

We are called to avoid sin, and when we unavoidably fall into it, we go to God in true repentance and try again with full intent of avoiding falling into sin again.

I'll leave you with 3 verses to help enhance your walk with Christ. First, when Jesus was asked what the most important Law was, he replied as such: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV)) This shows us that before anything else, we need to love our God, then love others unselfishly. So much so that we think about them and care about them more than ourselves. Second, we hold the fruit of the Spirit in great regard when it comes to our walk. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)) Easily one of the hardest verses to adopt into our daily lives but so important. I find myself playing back confrontations I get into and running it against a checklist on this verse. Most of the time I find that I am lacking in patience and self-control! The last verse that I will leave is James 2:14-17 (NIV): "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James encourages us as Christians to demonstrate our faith by our works. How can we help others? How can we shine God's light through us? As Christians, this is the number one way to exhibit our faith: through our works. Be well and continue to further your knowledge of Christ to strengthen your walk in Him.