So I was reading in 1 John 2 this morning. Really good stuff. Check this out...

"If someone claims, 'I know him well!' but doesn't keep his commandments, he's obviously a liar. His life doesn't match his words. But the one who keeps God's word is the person in whom we see God's mature love. This is the only way to be sure we're in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived."

Think about that. What kind of life did Jesus live? One of humility. One of sacrifice. It was a hard life. He was hated by a lot of people and was ultimately murdered.

Not exactly appealing, is it?

John isn't saying, "Hey, if you don't live a life of humility and sacrifice and just generally live a life where people reject you, then there's no way you're going to heaven." This isn't a "salvation" issue. This is entirely about how well you know God, not about heaven and hell. It's about how close you are to Him. He's saying that if you're really close to Him, you'll live like Jesus did. You'll sacrifice more. You'll give more. You'll put others needs ahead of yours. You'll obey what God says, not because you feel like you have to, but because you WANT to...because you trust Him...because you KNOW Him...and you know that He is good and His ideas about how to live life are better than yours.

See, I think Christians try to "not sin" because they're scared of hell, not because they know and trust God.

We should obey God out of respect and love, not duty.

And it's not that you never mess up. It's that your life is not characterized by your mess-ups. You're life becomes characterized by your relationship with the Creator of the Universe. Everything you do is because of that relationship.