Religion without Relationship

Hitler was a Christian, who called Christianity "the foundation of German morality." yet slaughtered Millions of women, men, & children. 

Osama Bin Laden was a Muslim extremists who thought by blowing up people it was pleasing to Allah. 

Napoleon Bonaparte was a Roman Catholic who was responsible for the deaths of over 2.5 Million people. 

What am I trying to say? 

Who we live our lives by means not nearly as much as how we live them. The people I mentioned above all believed in God, and all believed they were protected by their religious beliefs but what is religion without relationship? It's lifted hands without actual praise. It's going through the motions without emotion. It's preaching without practicing. I guarantee you not ONE of these men listed above managed to slip past the grips of Hell when they died simply because they were of a specific religion. I don't believe that I just earned a spot in Heaven when I decided to become Christian. Although I very much do believe that by learning to be Christ-like I can earn a fellowship with God and spend eternity in Heaven. I didn't think that by saying I'm Christian (yet changing nothing about my lifestyle before; just continuing to  do wrong unapologetically), I'd still get into Heaven. Faith requires good works on earth that reflect your beliefs, a desire to change one's heart for the better, it requires an expression of Love and acceptance for every man, woman, child, and creature of God on this planet. I am not at all saying that Jesus isn't the Way. He very much is. "His way" is the way to God. Unless I practice Love the way He did then my saying I'm Christian means about as much as either of these men saying they were men of faith. Our actions must reflect that which we want to convey. Otherwise the message of God that we want to spread to the world is lost.

Written by: Brianna Colleen Carey ©