I want you to know what I really mean when I say that I am a Christian

Those who claim a religion are seemingly always going to be stereotyped. No matter what religion you fall under, each has their own individual stereotypes and expectations, including Christianity. Although the stereotypes might not be as extreme as those placed on people of the Muslim faith, for example, they’re still very much present.

I want to tell you that I am not the common Christian stereotype. (I do not speak for all who claim to be Christian – this is my viewpoint and I am describing myself.)

I am not the person you see on the news protesting with signs that say “you’re going to hell.”

I am not judgmental or hypocritical.

I do not claim to be Christian so that people think I’m an innocent, great person.

I do not act like I am above those who are not Christians.

I will not shove my beliefs down your throat.

I do not claim to be perfect and I never will. I know that I am not and never will be.

I am not someone who won’t hang out with you because your faith differs from mine.

I will not condemn you to hell.

I am not someone who hates those who sin. I am a sinner.

I am not a stereotype.

Let me tell you who I am.

I am a broken human. I am the farthest thing from perfect and that is why I do love and follow Jesus. I have watched my life spiral into chaos because of my own choices. I have been in dark places with dark people, and because of this, I will never be the same. I live with internal scars from a past that I don’t want to remember and Jesus loves me through it all. I have lived a life without Jesus and I have run out of gas multiple times. Because of my experiences with being broken, I will be there for you. I will try to understand and even if I cannot, I will stand by you while you heal. I will love you.

I am someone who once believed I was unlovable. I have a past of feeling as if I’m not good enough for love, especially Jesus’s love. Of course, no one will ever be worthy. I thank God that I don’t have to live up to a standard to be loved by Him. Jesus loves the serial killer in prison as much as He loves the most pure, innocent child. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around that, but it’s the truth. His love is unconditional. He looks past all of our faults as humans and loves us anyway. I could never deserve this type of love but He continues to drown me in it. I hope you will never ignore Jesus’s love, but even if you do, I won’t judge you. I was there and it takes time. I will love you through it (I know my love doesn’t compare to His).

I am the person who once wanted nothing to do with God. I’ve been that girl who hears of God’s love and peace and comfort and gotten angry because of an event in my life. If He loved me, then why did He allow it? Why me? Why didn’t He just stop it? It took me a while to understand. Without this event and without me getting to the point that I was at though, I would have never in a million years been so in love with Jesus. Without not wanting God, I would have never wanted Him. I guess this could be kind of confusing considering no one knows what I was feeling or went through, but I know of many others who have had the same sort of thing happen. But, nevertheless, the point is that I’ve been the person ignoring God before. You may not want to acknowledge Him either. Whether you believe in my Savior or not, I will love you, and I will hope you will someday see Him shining through me.

I am someone who is here because of Jesus. My tank went empty a few too many times and I didn’t have the willpower or drive to go fill it back up; thankfully, I didn’t have to. Jesus done that for me. I had hit a point where I needed Jesus to keep going – He became my lifeline. Once I had made that connection and depended on Jesus, I never wanted it to end. Why would I? I have witnessed the power of Jesus and the intensity of His love for me, and He gives it all to me freely. Jesus has continuously supplied me with the hope for a brighter tomorrow, the peace to comfort me in all of my troubled times, and the willpower to stand up after I have fallen. And if you are ever in the same situation as I was, I will try to help you to the best of my ability. I will tell you about Jesus but I will not force you to listen. I will love you despite your decision and continue to be there – you are still a human who needs to be loved.

I am a sinner. I sin every day. And I will never be the perfect human that people think I am supposed to be because I am a Christian – I am not claiming to be perfect. I will never be able to escape sin and Jesus knows that. After all, that is the reason He died. I struggle with my sins constantly, too. I hate having to accept who I used to be even though Jesus forgives me for it. What a lot of people don’t understand is that sin simply means sin to Jesus. No one sinner is ranked above another sinner just because of his sin-of-choice. We’re all the same to Him. And just like Jesus (once again, I know I do not compare to Jesus), I do not care what sin you commit. I do not care how many times you commit it or even if you don’t believe it’s a sin. We may disagree and you may not even believe in God, but I’m going to love you. I am not one to judge you in any way, shape, or form. I will never love the sin, but I will always love the sinner. I’m a sinner too and Jesus still loves me.

Above all else, I am love.

Of course I occasionally make a bad move or say the wrong thing, but I am also human. I will never always do the right thing – nobody ever will or can. My main goal as a Christian is to show and be love to others. I want you to see how happy Jesus makes me. I want you to see how amazing it is to know that no matter what happens in my life, I have someone who is with me. He never leaves, He protects me, He helps me, He comforts me, He understands me, and He loves me. He loves me more than any human could ever love me. He died for me knowing that I would ignore Him and walk away time after time. He was beaten, mocked, tortured, and  crucified so that I could make mistakes and not suffer the consequences myself. He took the nails for me. I will always want others to experience the indescribable feeling of knowing Jesus. By loving all of those who walk the earth, I know that I can help others. Despite the religion or lack of, gender, race, sexual orientation, anything, I can help you by loving you. That is what I’m called to do before anything else.

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

And second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:30-31

Please stop assuming that I am what you see on TV or judge me based off of what someone else says about Christians. Just because a famous politician claims to be a Christian and says hate-filled, horrible statements doesn’t mean that all of us are hate-filled and horrible. I strive to be the complete opposite and I always will. One person does not represent us as a whole.

I don’t want to tell others that I am a Christian and their reaction be that they don’t want to be around me for who they think I am. Let me show you who I am.