Rooted and Built up in Christ

We probably have heard this quote or similar sounding ones before: "The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. And the first to forget is the happiest". While this quote encourages us to do things we normally find difficult (apologizing and forgiving) to do; it has the wrong motivations. Apologizing and forgiving is not about being brave or strong but about being obedient to God. We should apologize or forgive not because we want to be seen as the "bigger or better person" but because God said so. Doing these things to be seen as "bigger or better people" is pride and God hates pride (Proverbs 16:5). Secondly, God has instructed us to love everybody and love is not proud (1 Corinthians 13:4). Besides the fact that forgiveness is a commandment from God, there are two other primary reasons why we must forgive. We'll explore them below. We must forgive because God forgave us Jesus showed his love for us from the

The idea that we have to get our lives "cleaned up" before coming to Jesus is very false. We sometimes believe that changing our bad habits or turning away from our sinful lifestyles is a prerequisite for salvation yet it is the other way round. Living as changed people is only possible when we allow Jesus into our lives because it is only Him that can truly change us; we can't do it on our own. So let's stop feeling unworthy or saying things like "I can't pray to God or I can't go to church because I'm so full of sin or because I partied too hard last night or because I've been sleeping around or because I'm a hypocrite and blah blah blah. The truth is Jesus doesn't care, he wants us to come to Him just as we are. Jesus did not come to call "those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent" (Luke 5:32) and it is through Jesus that we are made righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). Let