Don't you know you are the only Jesus many people will ever see? In compromising your lifestyle, you forfeit your capacity to accurately reflect God's image and endanger an entire generation's understanding of Jesus.
Judah SmithThe Bible is meant to be down-to-earth. It was written for real people facing real issues.
Judah SmithI think people would be surprised to discover that their challenges and struggles are not too dissimilar to us, average ordinary people. We're all looking for essentially the same thing and I think that's faith and hope and love and meaning and of course satisfaction, peace, joy.
Judah SmithIf we could get people to think about Jesus, we reasoned, Jesus was more than able to reveal himself to them.
Judah SmithIt is absolutely essential to have a living visible example of what a Christian ought to be.
Judah SmithWhat we do on Sunday absolutely doesn't matter unless it meets us on Monday. Changes us on Monday. Transforms us on Monday.
Judah SmithOur righteousness doesn't depend on our present performance but on Jesus' finished performance.
Judah SmithDon't allow the opinions of other people to shape your concept of him. Get to know him yourself, and let the goodness of God change you from the inside out.
Judah SmithWhen you look in the eyes of grace, when you meet grace, when you embrace grace, when you see the nail prints in graceโs hands and the fire in his eyes, when you feel his relentless love for you - it will not motivate you to sin. It will motivate you to righteousness.
Judah SmithSometimes we get way too fixated on how powerful sin is and how weak we are. We worry that if we relax for a second, we'll mess up royally and ruin everything. Ironically, our paranoia only serves to make us more conscious of our sinfulness.
Judah SmithSometimes we are outright rude when we interact with people. We meet a gay guy or a couple living together, and we think we have the obligation and right to warn them what God thinks about their sexuality on our first meeting. As if their sex life is the first thing on God's agenda.It's not.Love is. Grace is. Mercy is. Jesus is.
Judah SmithWhen we meet grace, it becomes the fuel of our faith. We pray, we read our Bibles, we worship and we live the purest lifestyle we can because we love a person.
Judah SmithJesus is not your accuser. Heโs not your prosecutor. Heโs not your judge. Heโs your friend and your rescuer. Like Zacchaeus, just spend time with Jesus. Donโt hide from him in shame or reject him in self-righteousness. Donโt allow the opinions of other people to shape your concept of him. Get to know him for yourself, and let the goodness of God change you from the inside out.
Judah SmithGod's love is so extravagant and so inexplicable that he loved us before we were us. He loved us before we existed. He knew many of us would reject him, hate him, curse him, rebel against him. Yet he chose to love us. God loves us because he is love.
Judah SmithMake rules and follow rules as needed, but don't focus on riles. Focus on faith. Focus on grace. Focus on Jesus.
Judah SmithNowhere in the Bible, however, do we find God distinguishing between levels of sin. God doesn't share our rating system. To him, all sin is equally evil, and all sinners are equally lovable.
Judah SmithGod is not in a hurry to fix us. Our behavior is not his first priority. We are his first priority. Loving us, knowing us, affirming us, protecting us. That is his top goal and his main concern.
Judah SmithWe need to abandon our scale and adopt God's because our misguided labels keep us from the right kind of interaction with people.
Judah SmithThatโs how we often react when grace comes at us. Itโs awkward. God offers us something thatโs too good to be trueโunearned, unmerited, total forgivenessโand we stand there, stiff and uncomfortable, waiting for the embrace to stop so we can get back to the business of earning our way into heaven. We need to embrace grace. We need to learn how to hug back.
Judah SmithI wonder if we have a lot of sons running around saying, "I want a Dad." But you won't abide in anyone.
Judah SmithI think if Jesus had one shot at fixing us, Heโd tell us how much He loves us. Jesus loves us right now, just as we are. He isnโt standing aloof, yelling at us to climb out of our pits and clean ourselves up so we can be worthy of Him. He is wading waist-deep into the muck of life, weeping with the broken, rescuing the lost, and healing the sick.
Judah Smith