Are you a safe place?

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective”. James 5:16

Hold up, let me get this straight: You want ME to confess MY sins to a fellow “believer”?

Let me tell you what’s NOT going to happen. 

Let’s just focus on the first half of that verse for a few…

I’ve been in church my whole entire life and I have met not one person that I would confess my sins to and trust not to tell someone else.

Not one.

And let me tell you why:

Two things would occur if I did confess:

1. I would be made fun of, both to my face and behind my back and…

2. My private sin would spread like wildfire, in the form of a prayer request, of course…

No thank you.

Church is supposed to be a safe place. Full of sinners, just like me.

But instead, it’s a judgement house, full of sinners just like me, pretending to be faultless, just like Him.

Confess my sins? HA! I’d rather not.

I don’t want to gather together with my people and be embarrassed.

I don’t want to see people staring at me and whispering, wondering if they just look like they are talking about me or if they really are—which brings me to my next “I don’t want to”…

I don’t want to be paranoid at church.
I feel judged enough by not meeting the worlds standards…please don’t make me meet yours too, to feel loved.

And this is a shame.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” Galations 5:1

CALLING ALL SAINTS: LET’S DO OUR JOB!!!

LOVE. ONE.  ANOTHER!!!

You’ve got a problem? Hey, I love you anyway. Let’s pray about that—between you, me, and God.

Gay? Whatever. I love you.

Obese? Bring it. I love you.

Addicted? Come on over! I love people that are addicted and I want to see YOU set FREE! And if you fall off the wagon a million times…I will still love you.

Scared? Me too, sometimes. I love you.

Sick? I love you.

Judgmental? Still love you…

Bound by religion? You’re my favorite! And it’s okay—I was too:) And guess what–you’re about to experience love and grace like you have NEVER experienced it before!

Selfish? Love you, too.

Cheater? Come on back. It’s gonna be okay.

Divorced? Get in here. Group hug.

Desperate? I know who you need…

Stubborn? This Man is gonna get through that wall…why? He loves you!

Grasping the Father’s love is foreign to some of us. Especially if we’ve never felt genuine love from other people before. It’s hard. But, if you want to show Christ in your life, you’ve got to become a safe place.

Stop judging others.

Stop repeating what you hear.

Listen.

Pray for them, with them.

Be the righteous person whose prayers are powerful and effective.

Be who you have been called to be in Christ Jesus.

Love one another.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love” 1 Corinthians 13:13