The best things in life are 'free'.

I just finished reading an amazing book about a stripper who came to know Jesus and became a Christian. This is what she writes about the beginning of her spiritual journey-

'And God..If there really was a God, surely He was sitting high and mighty on His throne picking out all the good people; the ones worth loving, and thrusting disaster upon the bad ones like me. I would never make the cut..'

Somewhere between all the stoned hippies and alcoholic homeless men that I have made friends with since being a Believer lies this very same opinion. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago I made friends with an Irish Aethiest on a bus ride because he asked me 'how big his pupils were' and he pretty much said the same thing:
Irishman- 'If God is real, why would He be good to me anyway? I drink and smoke and take drugs and party with topless women...He definatley doesn't like me..'
Me- 'What are you talking about, this the cool part bro- He loves you DESPITE all those things.'
Irishman- 'Well, maybe so, but what do I have to do to earn this love?'
Me- 'Nothing. It's free. He loves you for free.'
Irishman- 'Pft, yeah right, what's the catch?'

In service last Sunday, the Pastor talked about how God is divded into three components- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God shows us His love in these three ways. Firstly, He demonstrates the ways in which He loves us by the way that our parents love us- the role of a parent is to comfort and forgive no matter how many times they are wronged or disrespected by their children. Once we become parents, He demonstrates the ways He loves us through the way we love our children- irrevocably and unconditionally. Lastly, He demonstrates His love through the Spirit by bringing two people together- like when we fall in love.

The thing that people find it so hard to believe in all of this is that there is no 'catch' in the way God loves us. He just does. However, people think that you have to work for it. They think that God only loves the 'good' people. They think that the first step to getting to know God is scrapping all the junk and bad-habits from your life so that He will 'like you more'. How do I know? Because I used to be one of them.
This was me about a year ago-
'Mehh, maybe I can accept that there is a God. But I mean, I'm not willing to trade in the ciggies and the vodka-raspberry's for a bible and church on a Sunday or anything.... I might as well just wait until I'm old and I have nothing better to do than sit around in a nursing home and pray.....'
I figured that first I would have to stop doing 'bad things' in order to show God that I was capable of being a 'good' person so that He would 'like' me.  Funny thing is that for the first 10months of being a Believer I was still walking around with my Marlboro's AND a bible in my hand-bag. Guess what? I still got to know God.

I ask myself- did I have to work for my parent's love? Did my Mum ever tell me that I had to complete a certain check-list in order to be worthy of her grace and forgiveness? Further- Mothers help me out here- is there anything that your child could do that would encourage you to love him/her less? And even further- when I think back on the times that I have been in love (or at least close to it) in my life so far, is there anything that those guys could have done at the time that would have stopped me from wanting to move mountains for them?

No.

'For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the Gift of God.' Ephesians 2:8

During my spiritual journey I asked myself the very same questions. I discovered bad news and good news: Bad news is that it doesnt matter what you do, bad shit is still going to happen to you. Being a Believer is not a free ticket out of suffering- otherwise everyone would be one, wouldn't they? Bad stuff still happens to the nannas praying in the nursing homes and even to the people that dedicate their lives to the church and to the preaching of God's word. Bad shit even happens to the pope, and some people rekon that he is the most holy man on Earth. It's inevitable, it's un-fixable, it's life. Even as a Believer, I accept that there will be moments of struggle in life, and that I will still have to power through pain to get to the good stuff. I am no different to anybody else.  The important part for me is just turning to God; trusting that He will work it out, and that He is going to use certain experiences- no matter how negative- to teach me something for the future.
Good news is that even if you spend every weekend popping pills and partying, or smoke weed for a living - 'God shows no partiality' and He WANTS to have a relationship with you. He thought you were awesome even before you were created- He liked you after every time you effed something up when you were a kid, He still likes you after everytime you eff something up now, and He will continue to like you after everytime you will eff something up in the future.The first step isn't picking up the pieces of your somewhat scattered life and storing them away in a box called 'the past' before picking up a bible and seeing what's in it. The first step is letting God into your life to show you who He is and what He does, and most of all, accepting that He already loves you...no strings attached.

After all- the best things in life are 'free'.
That's all folks,

Love,
Crissi