What Exactly is Christianity?

What exactly is Christianity? Okay, dumb question. Christianity is believing that Jesus came, he died for our sins, he rose from the dead, and will come back again, all because he loves us more than we can ever imagine, right?

Sure, but isn't being a Christian more than that? 

I mean, we can believe in Christ all we want, but truly living our lives as Christians doesn't mean anything unless we actually live out the values of what qualifies someone as a Christian. 

If we look into the Bible, Jesus has twelve disciples. These twelve men followed him around and basically were his bros throughout his life. What did they actually do? Well, according to the dictionary, disciple literally means "a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure." So if we knew nothing about the twelve disciples and only had this one definition to look at, we could probably decipher that these men most likely looked up to Jesus and wanted to become more like him. By mimicking his actions and spreading them to others, they became more and more Jesus-like. 

That was 2000 years ago, yet, the act of discipleship still is present everyday. How can we truly live out our Christain faith everyday? Easy, make the choice to constantly love others. 

Jesus truly loved everyone, no matter what background they have or sin they committed. In John 8:1-11, Jesus meets the Pharisees and the woman caught in adultry. Although the law of the time was if a woman was caught in this act, she would be stoned to death. After being asked what to do by the Pharisees, he responds by saying if anyone hasn't sinned, then they can cast the first stone. Once they leave, Jesus asks the woman where her condemners are. Realizing they had left, Jesus then forgives her of her sin but tells her to sin no more. 

Did Jesus say she was a bad person? Did he say she would be killed next time? Did he do anything to belittle her dignity? No. He loved her through it all. 

If I truly loved Christ with all of my heart and believed fully in him, but chose to judge others for their mistakes and sins, would I really be a Christian? If I made the choice to hate my brothers and sisters in Christ who were homosexual, but loved Jesus, would I really be a Christian? What if someone near and dear to me made the choice to kill someone, whether that be homicide, abortion, or the death penalty, and I decided to not love them, would I really be a Christian? The answer is no. 

Who am I to judge? I have sinned just as much as the next person. It would be hypocritical of me to preach the gospel but choose to not love my brothers and sisters in Christ because of their life choices. If someone knew my entire heart and soul, sins included, and still chose to love me just as much as Christ does, than that to me, is a true Christian. 

We can believe that Jesus came, died for our sins, rose from the dead, and will come back again, but it means nothing unless we truly make the decision to love each other and act as one of Christ's disciples. Making the conscious effort everyday to love others as Christ loves us, no matter the background, is the most rewarding feeling ever. When you talk to someone or come in contact with them, you are seeing the face of God. How beautiful is it to know that by loving someone in their entirety, you are loving a beautiful masterpiece made by the one above? 

We all have flaws, but in the end, we were all created in the image of God. If anything, make the choice to love someone through it all. Once you do, God will do incredible things in your life,mont only for you, but for the ones who you love the most. 

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