I get discouraged when I think of trying to be good enough to become a Christian. How could I lead a perfect life like people in the Bible?

God gave His laws to Moses to teach them to the Hebrews as a standard for people to strive toward. However, no one could live “righteously” or right and never disobey most of them. It’s why God required a blood sacrifice, once yearly, of a lamb, goat, or dove which was judged to be perfect in appearance to atone or pay the penalty for the sins of each family. Then, each member of the family would be forgiven until the sacrifice the next year. These were just a shadow of God’s future design to send His perfect Son Jesus into the world in order to become the final sacrifice by His shed blood for the wrongs humans committed against God. If Jesus had never died on a cross to pay the penalty that was due, people could never be right with God and come into His presence in heaven after death. Remember, on the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished!” He knew He had just paid for sins past, present, and future for anyone who is willing to accept this free gift He offered. He wanted everyone there to hear that no other sacrifice would be needed again…ever.

God planned since the beginning of our existence on earth to have Jesus be that ultimate sacrifice. Even in the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned and lied to God about it, God Himself killed an animal to make clothes to cover them because of their disobedience. It was the first blood sacrifice needed to cancel the debt of sin. God sent His message through prophets that He would send a Messiah to save His people from eternal death due to their wrongdoing. Here’s the description of the role Jesus was destined to play, written many years before He was born into the world as a human baby in Bethlehem:

“He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely, He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:2-6

People who led perfect lives? You will not find them in the Bible, except for one: The only perfect person who ever lived was Jesus. His is the example to follow. Begin reading in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. In this book alone, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and then lied to Him about it. Noah drank too much and ended up putting his sons in a difficult situation. Abraham was so afraid someone would kill him to steal his beautiful wife that he lied that she was his sister – twice – and one king briefly took her into his own harem until the truth was revealed. Abraham’s nephew, Lot, rather than moving to a better and safer area, profited from running a business in a city filled with people known for practicing sexual sin. Then, he offered his own 2 daughters to men who tried to break down his front door one night. In another case in Genesis, Judah, who was known for seeking out prostitutes, was tricked by his own daughter-in-law when she disguised herself, posed as one, and became pregnant with his child. And there were more – many more examples of people whose lives were a wreck – but God used every single one of them to accomplish His eternal purposes. He still does that today for each one of us!

^“ As the Scriptures say, ‘No one is good—no one in all the world is innocent.’ No one has ever really followed God’s paths or even truly wanted to. Everyone has turned away; all have gone wrong. No one anywhere has kept on doing what is right; not one. Their talk is foul and filthy like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are loaded with lies. Everything they say has in it the sting and poison of deadly snakes. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. They are quick to kill, hating anyone who disagrees with them. Wherever they go they leave misery and trouble behind them, and they have never known what it is to feel secure or enjoy God’s blessing. They care nothing about God nor what he thinks of them. So, the judgment of God lies very heavily upon the Jews, for they are responsible to keep God’s laws instead of doing all these evil things; not one of them has any excuse; in fact, all the world stands hushed and guilty before Almighty God. Now do you see it? No one can ever be made right in God’s sight by doing what the law [of Moses] commands. For the more we know of God’s laws, the clearer it becomes that we aren’t obeying them; His laws serve only to make us see that we are sinners. But now God has shown us a different way to heaven—not by ‘being good enough’ and trying to keep His laws, but by a new way (though not new, really, for the Scriptures told about it long ago). Now God says He will accept and acquit us—declare us ‘not guilty’—if we trust Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, by coming to Christ, no matter who we are or what we have been like. Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious ideal; yet now God declares us ‘not guilty’ of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in His kindness freely takes away our sins. For God sent Christ Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to end all God’s anger against us. He used Christ’s blood and our faith as the means of saving us from his wrath. In this way He was being entirely fair, even though He did not punish those who sinned in former times. For He was looking forward to the time when Jesus Christ would come and take away those sins. And now in these days also He can receive sinners in this same way because Jesus took away their sins. But isn’t this unfair for God to let criminals go free, and say that they are innocent? No, for He does it on the basis of their trust in Jesus who took away their sins. Then what can we boast about doing to earn our salvation? Nothing at all. Why? Because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds; it is based on what Christ has done and our faith in Him. So it is that we are saved by faith in Christ and not by the good things we do.” Romans 3:10-27

Jesus, I thank you for preserving your timeless truths in the Bible so I can know for sure how to be made right with you. I understand from your scriptures I will go to hell when I die to pay for the wrongs I have committed unless you forgive me. I confess now, I have done wrong my whole life and need you to forgive me. I can’t change my ways by myself because I’ve tried and failed over and over. I know that I can’t enter heaven unless you do. I understand that you, Jesus, died to take the punishment for my sins, and I thank you for it! I am ready for you to come into my life and lead me from this day forward. I trust you with my future and look forward to spending eternity with you and all the others who will enter heaven before me. Thank you for setting me free from the sinful life I’ve led until now and the terrible punishment waiting for me in hell. Thank you for wiping my sin record clean and giving me this new beginning with you, the King of the Universe! Amen!

“To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’ And Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:31-36

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There are so many hateful and violent words publicly exchanged by people these days. Can Christians do anything to stop this?

October 1, 2025

Answer: We can only control what we ourselves talk about and post publicly, such as on social media. Even where hostility already is expressed, we can set the better tone, or a good example of respectful, fair, and kind dialogue. Remember what parents have repeated to their children for generations - If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. God inspired more about this to be recorded in His scriptures. Not only does He mean for us not to hurt others with our words but to select them to encourage and grow others to understand His great love for them! “A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” Proverbs 15:4 “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Proverbs 12:18 Most important of all is whether our words – which spring from deep in our souls – are pleasing to God. Regardless of the public image we would like for others to see, Jesus said that words reveal a great deal about our true thoughts and how we live whenever we open our mouths to speak: “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34, Luke 6:45 “…the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man…out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” Matthew 15:19 Next, what is important to God is the way we treat others. When people know we are Christians, will they be drawn to God and His love we share among ourselves, or will they be repelled by our insincerity? We are His ambassadors and represent Him to a dying world. Tragically, a person’s bad impression of hypocritical followers of Jesus may never be undone, which means the heart of an observer may become hardened to the truths about God so that he or she misses out on salvation. What a sobering responsibility we have! “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.” James 1:26 If we lose our honorable reputation, we lose a great deal – in our church, community, and family! Trust collapses and doors close. If we respond badly in anger and malice, no one will take our claims of faith in God seriously anymore. The Bible states that having “ a good name ” should be more desirable than monetary riches. (Proverbs 22:1) When people can see that we act on what we say we believe, then they trust us and are willing to open their own hearts and minds to hear the message of Jesus Christ. When Jesus was asked what was the most important commandment, He responded to love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves. (Matthew 22:35-40, Mark 12:28-34, Luke 10:27) Our speech demonstrates love for God and others, or, sadly, a lack of it. “…neither filthiness, not foolish talking, not coarse joking, which are not appropriate, but rather giving thanks.” Ephesians 5:4 “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.” I Peter 3:10 “But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, hate, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.” Colossians 3:8 The scriptures have much more to advise as warnings about the influence of our words in the lives of people around us. With our comments, we can make or break others. That’s a lot of power. We can build peace, or we can set the world on fire! When we start a fire, we often suffer along with our victims. Have you ever hurt someone deeply with a criticism or opinion? That person may always suffer from that painful, unhealed wound. “Likewise, the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small spark. The tongue is also a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals have been tamed by mankind, but no human can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. My brothers and sisters, this should not be so.“ James 3:5-10 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” Proverbs 18:21 God has given us life to serve Him and use our mouths to help one another by building up others – not by tearing them down. Each day, be sure to offer a good word to cheer someone’s heart, and watch and see how God blesses your life immensely, too! When we show love, people experience what God’s love feel like, possibly for the first time. “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.” Proverbs 12:25 “Let no corrupt word come out of your mouth, but what s good for necessary encouragement, that it may give favor to the hearers.” Ephesians 4:29 “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Proverbs 16:24 “Let your conversations be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:6 Has God’s Holy Spirit brought forward thoughts of someone you have hurt with your words? Here’s a good place to start in making this right: Lord, thank you for bringing this broken relationship to my mind. You know who I need to apologize to and how I might better rebuild that relationship. Please help me to do this in your perfect timing and with a very humble heart. Would you prepare that person’s heart to hear my words and heal our relationship? Please transform me and rid me of my tendency to be speak hastily and harshly. I look to you for guidance, dear Father in heaven. Thank you! “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

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By ncqlwjsp-ca • August 25, 2025

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By ncqlwjsp-ca • July 1, 2025

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By ncqlwjsp-ca • January 12, 2025

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By ncqlwjsp-ca • August 7, 2024

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By ncqlwjsp • June 27, 2024

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