The Good, The Bad, and Me

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly is a movie about three different people. One is good, one is bad, and one is ugly. These character traits apply to us in certain ways. In fact we can be all three. Our sin is ugly, our actions can be bad, but...through Jesus Christ we can be good. Jesus said why do you call me good? Only God is truly good. (Mark 10:18) Now Jesus didn't mean no one can be good, he meant the Father is good all the time -notice the keyword truly- where us as human beings are fickle in our actions. So how can we be good and avoid those other two as often as possible? (I'm not saying "bad" and "ugly" will always be avoided, I believe they can be, but since we're human and rely on ourselves sometimes and not the Father they won't always be avoided.) Jesus told us he would send The Helper to..well...help us. Help us in our times of trial and to always be with us in our hearts. The Scriptures say I will hide his word in my heart that I might not sin against Him. (Psalm 119:11) I believe The Helper (Holy Spirit) who dwells in our hearts reminds us of these scriptures we keep in our hearts and with these two working for our better it is a powerful combo. Two of my favorite verses I think of constantly are Romans 12:21 "Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."; and Galatians 2:20 "It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me." These verses are very reassuring and a great reminder that we can and should always live for Christ's will. But let's talk about the "Bad" and the "Ugly". When we sin we are going against God's will. The beautiful thing is God knows our hearts and knows we being fickle humans won't always do the right things. Now I am not justifying sin, certainly not. But I am saying our Heavenly father loves us deeply and that is why He sent His son to die for our sins and we can have the ability to ask for forgiveness. Like it is said, God hates the sin but He loves the sinner. Referring back to those two verses up there, Romans 12:21 and Galatians 2:20, God of course wants us to overcome sin and gives us the option to always overcome sin. But still as young, ever growing Christians, we justify our sinfulness by sometimes relying on ourselves instead of the Father. So I leave you with this note, we are all good, bad, and ugly, but Jesus loves us just the same and wills us to grow out of the "bad" and "ugly" and increase in good. He also offers us forgiveness when we ask for it. Remember dear brothers and sisters...how will you improve the present moment?