FOCUS ON JESUS, NOT ON SIN

As I’ve said before, I was raised in church, and I was taught to believe in God, but I was 19 years old before I truly got to know Jesus. That was quite some time ago. Much has happened since then, both good and bad, but Jesus has always been there for me. There were times I didn’t think so, but looking back, I can see his fingerprints all over my life.

I’m ashamed to say it, but, I haven’t always been faithful to him. Like a lot of people, I’ve always wanted to be a perfect Christian but no matter how hard I tried, I could never reach that goal.

I’ve always wanted to do right, so when I would fail God, I would begin to focus on those failures and try to do better in those areas. As failure after failure piled up I became overwhelmed with the task of trying to do better. All my attention was focused on me.

That’s the wrong way to live a Christian life. The focus should always be on Jesus, not on ourselves. In focusing on ourselves we lose sight of him, and before we realize it, we’ve spent years trying to do it all on our own. We can never clean ourselves up, but too often we try, not realizing that there is a better way.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things will be added to you.”

If we seek God first, everything else will fall into place. He will fill us with his spirit and give us the power to do right.

As we pray and study the Bible, God will instruct us on how to live a Christian life. When we fail, we should ask God for forgiveness and move on. Sure, we need to remember how we got into that situation and avoid it next time, but we don’t need to keep beating ourselves up over what we did wrong. When God forgives us, he doesn’t hold that sin against us, so we shouldn’t either, nor should we allow Satan to.

Focus on Jesus, NOT on your sins. God will help you to obey him. Follow his teachings and the teachings of his disciples in his holy book, the Bible. We need to walk with God as his early followers did. This is where we need to start. Focus on Jesus, and before you know it, you’ll be like Jesus. In 1922, Helen Howarth Lemmel wrote a song called “The Heavenly Vision (Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus).” The words of this beautiful hymn express that thought perfectly.

“Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
Look Full In His Wonderful Face
And The Things Of Earth Will Grow Strangely Dim
In The Light Of His Glory And Grace”

———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2015 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6