Copyright by Shea Oakley
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Some people are attracted to Christianity, but have been saddled with a misconception that has caused them to hesitate to draw closer to the God Christians talk so glowingly about. The specific misconception I speak of is the idea that they must “clean up” their lives prior to embracing Christ. In actuality nothing is further from the truth.
Many who become Christians only do so after a lifetime of bad moral decisions have left them in a desperate condition. One thing people in this position often come to realize is that they are so at the proverbial “end of their rope” that self-improvement is quite beyond their grasp. By this I mean they have no strength to reform themselves and they know it. This is especially true with people who are in the death-grip of some addiction.
When we find ourselves in such a condition, and are honest about it, we come to understand deep-down that the idea of pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps is patently absurd. In our desperation the only thing we can do is seek help outside of ourselves. This is actually exactly where God does His best work, so to speak, and is often the point of conversion for many a Christian.
Numerous times I have heard testimonies from people who came to this place of exhaustion of self and desperation and then called out to Christ for help. Sometimes their testimony includes an amazing experience in which they are delivered from some addiction or other life-threatening situation in an immediate and miraculous way. While this does not always happen in such a manner I mention it to make a point about what it means to become a believer.
These recipients of miraculous relief will tell you one thing is for sure: they did not and could not have accomplished this on their own. They were helpless to change what was wrong with their lives, and that was the whole point. They did not change and then come to God. They came to God and He made the changes.
Christ does not expect us to do on our own what we are incapable of doing. It is a basic fact of human nature that
“Self-help” is no help at all. We cannot in any way reform ourselves to become acceptable to God. Our reformation comes through surrendering our lives to Him and trusting him for the power to change once that surrender happens. This is part and parcel of becoming a Christian.
Never let anyone tell you that you must clean yourself up to come to God. He is the one that lovingly enables us to become different and better people. If you want to come to him come just as you are and He will give you the strength to become a new creation in Jesus Christ
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