Legalism versus Grace.

I think the Christian community does not represent what God intended for us to look like. Judgment is often our first response to any situation. For example: what someone wears to church, if they have a tattoo, if they drink alcohol, or if they hang with a lot of unbelievers. I think what so many believers forget is that God convicts us all in different ways. There are so many grey areas that we aren't given exact instructions on. The commandments in the Bible are our convictions that God commands us to follow. When it comes to areas the Bible does not mention then that is our job to rely on God to direct us where He wants us to go.

There is no room for judgment in the Christian community. We are all sinners who are saved by Grace. We all have some sort of past. As I have said many times before, every person in the Bible did as well.

Our job as believers is not to judge others for every single action they make like they are under a microscope. There are so many falling apart churches that rely on legalism. I believe I grew up with many legalistic tendencies. I would judge anyone who did not follow what were considered the "rules” or sinned. For example, any person with a tattoo I thought was in serious trouble with God. I looked down upon anyone who drank as if that was a sin too. All of this was pride. Pride with thinking that I would never do anything wrong like that.

Well God brought me to a season of breaking me of me. It was very hard as I made some very wrong decisions, but God used it for good.

I started to stop seeing all of the grey areas in a legalistic view. I started believing that if God wants to convict a person of something, He will do that. With that said, I have noticed many believers who have tattoos. They seem to have no conviction that it is going against God, therefore I will not judge them for that. I believe it can be used to tell one's life story. I believe that these grey areas that we rely on God for can change unlike the commandments God has in the Bible.

For all those who judge others for hanging with all unbelievers are basically against what Jesus did with His time on earth. Jesus Himself sat at a table with sinners. He did not remain in a Christian bubble. I think it is a big tendency for us to stay in the comfort of our Christian bubble, but how will people be reached if we stay in our comfort zone? Jesus hung around people who were unlike Him, yet He never once looked down upon them. Jesus made a relationship with these people so they could get to know what it means to truly live for God. Jesus could have thrown the stone at the adulterous woman, but he didn't. He in fact was the last one to leave the scene. (John 8:1-11) He also was the only one who never sinned which means he could have thrown the stone. Therefore, let's meet people right where their needs are without judging them.

It is a caged life to live in a legalistic world. Legalism is so far from grace.

Any person who does not dress appropriately enough for a legalistic church is looked down upon. I used to think that God is staring at me wondering why I wore what I wore. I finally realized it was just my upbringing and people who were the only ones judging me for what I would wear. Modesty is definitely important, but it is not intended to be shameful of our bodies. I believe what we wear is based upon living confidently in what we look like because we are beautiful creations. Modesty does not mean we hide behind clothing due to insecurity. I fully believe the Holy Spirit will alarm us if we are wearing clothing that He doesn’t think is best for us. I think everyone has their own convictions with what type of clothing to wear. It is not our job to judge them for what they wear but love them right where they are. 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

God is all about grace and mercy. He will judge those who have not surrendered their lives to Christ, but there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

With the way the world is right now there is so much division especially in the Christian community. Everyone is fighting over whether to wear a mask or not. I expressed my opinion and the people who attacked me the most were claimed believers. They used the Word of God to convince me that I was wrong when there is nowhere in the Bible that refers to wearing a mask. Everyone claims Jesus would wear a mask as if we had the right to decide what God would decide to do. I have continuously asked God to convict me if I am wrong, and I feel no sense of it. I only feel judgment because I am being accused of selfishness. All of this is where the Christian community attacks each other verbally because in their eyes they aren’t doing the right thing. (I wanted to add that is is okay question a person in love) The devil is having a parade that we are dividing. We all have space to freely speak our opinion with grace, but we have no right to manipulative one another with scripture that is being used for the wrong scenarios. Therefore, if you are all about wearing a mask then do so but do not judge a person for not wearing it. I feel that masks are just a way of trusting a piece of cloth for protection over the power of Christ. Everyone is so worried about getting ill as if they fear death the most. If you fear death so much, then you need to examine yourself. I can’t say I am totally ready for death either. I feel like I have a life to live serving God, but I am not so fearful because I know I will one day see our Father. I think the enemy is loving that we fight over an issue as simple as masks. It all goes back to the legalistic mindset of judging one another just because they don’t have the same beliefs. One who is legalistic is one who uses scripture out of context to defend themselves. As well as manipulating a person to believe what they believe. If someone is convicted about an area of their life that doesn’t go against Scripture, then let them believe it freely. This is between them and God. We aren’t apart of that circle. If there is someone, we disagree with then we should ask them why, but never look down upon them as if we are pridefully better.

With all of that said, grace and love speak volumes louder than anything else. I read the book Everybody Always by Bob Goff where it discussed how he tried to love someone who was very much unlike him just for a few seconds. It helped me to start to learn how to love other people who disagreed with him. We are called to love people, but not the sin they participate in.

I also think that the Christian community stands up for areas of the Bible that are clearly against Scripture. Every Christian does struggle with some type of sin, but we should not support it. We should love them through it and help them out of it. We should not be in full acceptance of it. Just like so many believers support homosexuality when clearly in the Bible God is against it. Let me reiterate, there is a difference between struggling but wanting out of it versus accepting their sin in full as being okay. “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.” (Romans 1:26-27). God gave them over to their own sinful nature as they fully accepted their sin with joy rather than seeking help to recover. I am not judging someone who struggles with these sins, but I am wondering why so many are in full acceptance of it because it’s the norm. I really hope that whoever struggles with whatever it may will reach a point of confession and seek guidance. We all have struggled with something that took us to a dark place. Yet God is fighting for all of us to reach the Light. He will pull us out of our sin. He will mold us where we need to go as long as we fight the temptations with Him. All He wants is for us to bring Him into any situation we struggle with.

I covered many controversial topics, but I think these topics needed to be addressed.

Let’s be people of grace, compassion, and love. Let’s stay away from judgement and acceptance of sin. Let’s fight against the tendency to be legalistic. Let’s seek God for conviction over grey areas and stand firm in the commandments God gives us.