{"id":616,"date":"2011-07-31T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2011-07-31T14:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=616"},"modified":"2011-07-28T21:54:47","modified_gmt":"2011-07-29T02:54:47","slug":"flawed-christians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=616","title":{"rendered":"Flawed Christians"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/7.31.11-Flawless-Christians.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-619\" title=\"7.31.11 - Flawless Christians\" src=\"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/7.31.11-Flawless-Christians.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"156\" height=\"165\" \/><\/a>Humans are not perfect.\u00a0 Since Christians are human, they are not perfect either.\u00a0 Christians are just as flawed as the rest of the world.\u00a0 Unfortunately Christians live in a sort of goldfish bowl as others watch them, scrutinize them with an imaginary magnifying glass, and require them to live sin free lives.\u00a0 As hard as Christians may try, they will frequently fall short of the high expectations non-Christians place on them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Christ has high expectations for those who profess to follow him, too.\u00a0 However, he doesn\u2019t love them any less when they slip and fail to do what is right.\u00a0 Christ died for all our sins:\u00a0 past, present and future.\u00a0 Some say, \u201cIf that\u2019s true, why bother to live the Christian life at all.\u00a0 Just do what you want and God will forgive you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 This thinking is a little short sighted.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>First, although Jesus died for our sins, it doesn\u2019t absolve us from the ill effects connected to sin.\u00a0 God doesn\u2019t have to zap us if we sin because sin carries its own cause and effect.\u00a0 It\u2019s the \u201cwhat you sow you shall reap principle\u201d or \u201cwhat goes around comes around.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Secondly, true Christians are sincerely trying not to sin because they appreciate the sacrifice Jesus made for them.\u00a0 They are new creations.\u00a0 (2 Corinthians 5:17)\u00a0 They strive to live a godly life out of love for the one who makes salvation possible, not out of fear of what will happen to them if they don\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With that said, we must still realize Christians are humans and therefore flawed.\u00a0 Believe it or not sometimes they might lie, be deceived, get drunk, commit adultery,\u00a0 be jealous, not get along, run away, hide, scheme, gossip, deny Christ, doubt, fret, and even murder.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Just look at these examples\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Eve allowed herself to be deceived.<\/li>\n<li>Abraham lied and said his wife Sarah was his sister.<\/li>\n<li>Paul couldn\u2019t get along with John Mark.<\/li>\n<li>Solomon let his wives lead him astray.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>David committed adultery with Bathsheba.<\/li>\n<li>Joseph\u2019s brothers sold him into slavery.<\/li>\n<li>Saul was jealous of David.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Elijah was afraid of Jezebel and ran away.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Ruth was a pagan.<\/li>\n<li>Moses was a murderer.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Rahab was a harlot.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Jacob was a schemer.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>James and John were called the \u201csons of thunder.\u201d\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Samson was weak in the ways of women.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Peter denied Christ.<\/li>\n<li>Jonah ran from God.<\/li>\n<li>Miriam was a gossip.<\/li>\n<li>Thomas doubted.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Noah got drunk.<\/li>\n<li>Martha fretted.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Just because some of our biblical ancestors had some shady actions doesn\u2019t give us license to conduct ourselves in the same manner.\u00a0 The Bible is full of examples for us to learn from \u2013 some good and some not so good.\u00a0 (1 Corinthians 10:11)\u00a0\u00a0 However, it does reinforce that people, even Christians make mistakes and sometimes they are pretty big mistakes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Personally I\u2019m glad the Bible contains stories of these flawed individuals who loved God.\u00a0 After all, it isn\u2019t the person who should be put under a magnifying glass, but God\u2019s grace.\u00a0 Fortunately for all of us, God\u2019s grace covers a multitude of sin.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Humans are not perfect.\u00a0 Since Christians are human, they are not perfect either.\u00a0 Christians are just as flawed as the rest of the world.\u00a0 Unfortunately Christians live in a sort of goldfish bowl as others watch them, scrutinize them with &hellip; 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