Being a Christian is so much more than claiming to follow the religion or being able to quote scripture left and right. We often forget that God revealed Himself to us for reasons: that we might have life and have it to the full, because He loves us, and because He wants to know us. Doesn't God already know us, though? He knows our human nature, He knows the person that we have been in the past, and He knows the person we are meant to be, a person that strives to have a heart like Christ. He knows us inside and out-every hair on our head. So we can say that God knows us, but here is the real question: how well do we know Him? Do we know about Him or do we actually know him? Do we talk to Him? Are we real with Him? Being in any relationship means being honest. It's the same with loving the Lord and allowing Him to pour His love onto us. God doesn't want us to simply claim to know Him. He wants us to truly know Him, and that means humbling down and coming clean of our sin.I've had a couple of friends say they dislike Christianity because it means they'd have to change who they are, but isn't that the entire point? As humans we are flawed. We need to change. We should want to change, because changing for the Lord is changing for the better. When we open our hearts to God and admit where we are wrong, we are able to receive redemption and the cleansing process is able to begin. All relationships should experience growth and nourishment, but those things can't happen if one side of the relationship puts up a barrier. We must let our guards down to God. He wants to know our hurts, our desires, our past, and our mistakes. It means so much when we come to Him freely and openly.
I love the analogy of a relationship with God being like a garden. It needs love, nourishment, and cleansing. What kind of garden would it be if the tender left all of the weeds to cover the flowers? It is when the gardener begins to pull the weeds up one by one that the beauty of the daisies can shine through and have room to grow. We need to let God be the gardener of our relationship with Him by allowing Him to see who we are and cleanse us to the core.
'Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me'.
-Psalm 51:10
