Originally Posted by $5 submissions

When I was "religious" as a young kid growing up in a Filipino Catholic household, I would read the Bible and hear sermons about Jesus and the people he healed. He would heal lepers, forgive sinners, etc. I was "religious" back then so I saw myself as OTHER THAN and BETTER THAN the people Jesus was was working with.

As I got older and as the years went by, I realized that *I* was the leper, the sinner, the tax collector, and the miscellaneous "undesirables" that Jesus came to heal, forgive, and comfort. People find that hard to believe but Grace doesn't come to those who think they have it all figured out. It's hard to see someone who is PROUD and CONFIDENT of his success, of his place in the world, AND of his power to humble himself and say "YES, there's something WRONG with me. I don't know everything. It isn't ABOUT ME".

Yeah, the older I get the more I realize that I am the leper, the prostitute, the tax collector, the bad guy. But Jesus doesn't care about your past. The problem isn't the Truth and Jesus. The problem are always the "Tall" people around Jesus. The ones who crowd around him--wrapped in their self-righteousness and all to eager to CONDEMN those that don't "measure up." Thankfully, the Gospel shows that you can't WORK your way to heaven because let's face it, all of us are SCUM and deserve only DEATH if the LAW is the only measure. But Jesus doesn't care about your past and gives you the free gift of his Grace. This grace is the only thing that can empower people to even THINK of following his Law.

So am I religious? I hope not. The classic example of religiosity often involves self-righteous people pushing out the LEPERS out of their churches and Killing infidels in the name of God. How can you kill in the name of Love? The sad irony of that always gets me.

I'm not religious. I'm just a leper looking for healing. Day in. Day out.

I wish you all peace!