“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

As a follower of Christ, it is known that there are many temptations that will come across my path. In life, we don’t get to choose the struggles that we face, but we do get to choose how we will spend eternity. There are times that we recognize how we have fallen short and some times don’t seem repairable, but they are.

As a first time believer, it is hard to transition into the lifestyle we should be living through Christ. Some people receive salvation as young children, some not until they are much older. I, luckily, found God as a twelve year old. Although, I thought I had it all figured out, I had not yet experienced many struggles yet. Growing up, we experience high school, dating, change of actions, attitude changes, and face many temptations. Starting junior high it doesn't seem as hard, but high school is a different story. Sports begin to take over, classes start to get harder and friends begin to come and go. Before you know it, you aren’t that young kid anymore who would have never taken a sip of alcohol, done a drug, had sex, or even said a simple cuss word. Sinning seemed a lot more avoidable as a young child.

When you get older you realize the change in friend groups and how hard it actually is to fit in. Little do we know, we are more than likely trying to fit in with the wrong group. People start inviting you to parties, and bad decisions are bound to be made. At first, it is easy to say the word ‘no’, but once you realize that no one agrees with that word, the ‘no’ turns into ‘but just this once’. One time turns to two, two to three, and so on. You go from saying ‘I’ve only tried a sip’ to ‘I don’t remember how much I have had, just tonight,’ In the moment, you think you are on top of the world and nothing could kill your buzz. A couple drinks leads to many more drinks, smoking once leads to smoking daily, having sex with the ‘love’ of your life turns in to heartbroken one night stands.

There is really no excuse for any of these actions. When you point blame at temptation with the “he said/she said” or “They made me do it” excuses you begin to give yourself leverage for when it happens again. Truth is, it can’t happen again. As a Christian who has made poor decisions, fallen short of God’s glory, and was once more excited for saturday night ‘turn-ups’ instead of sunday morning service, i’m here to say it isn’t worth it. Life isn’t promised, this life is only temporary and God is eternal.

I’m far from perfect, but I serve a God that forgives and it’s time to make a change.