Maybe life has treated you pretty well. You've never had the need, or recognized the need, for something more. You've gotten along on your "own" just fine.

Maybe life has been terrible. Maybe you've never opened the door because if a life like yours exists, there's no higher power that could possibly care.

Maybe you've had a bad experience, somewhere, or with someone, and it just closed your heart to the possibility of God.

Regardless of where you are coming from, whenever the idea of Christianity or faith has come up in your life, you've probably been left with the same question: Why should I give God my heart? Why should I, after years of living my life without him, without his help, without a relationship with him, decide to start asking difficult questions and exploring Christ? Why now?

I could just tell you this one truth: God is better than anything you've ever tried. He is better than anything you've ever experienced. And while you may think you've been living a life free of him, the fact that you are even alive, the fact that you have experienced the joys of this world, reveals the ways he has worked in your life.

But, simply stating that God is better doesn't make that real for you and I get that. It doesn't move you or make you feel anything because you haven't experienced it for yourself. But God is worth a shot, because what will be real and feel real, is the divine encounter you experience with Christ when you reach out.

Why is God better?

Because he has been fighting for your heart forever. He's given you joy, love, and life because he wants you. He loves you fiercely, and has since he first thought of you. He desires you when you are at your worst and at your best. There has never been a moment in your life where he has not loved you or wanted you. Who else in your life can you say this of? Who else in your life, whether it be a parent, a sibling, a friend, or a significant other, has ever loved you perfectly?

But maybe you haven't had a great life, you've had a rotten one. Maybe you've never felt loved, you've lost big, you've experienced pain and suffering that others cannot even comprehend. You might question the existence of a loving God when you've been suffering for so long.

He's been there. His heart has shattered for you. He's been waiting for you to reach out to him, not because life will become easy or perfect when you do, but because he wants to be your refuge. He's wanted to be the one you seek for comfort, peace, restoration, freedom, and joy. He's wanted you to know that he sees your pain, he sees your suffering, he sees your heartache. He's been there, you just couldn't see him because you weren't looking to see him. But his love for you has always been there. And oftentimes, he's been showing you his love through others because he knew you couldn't see it in him.

You might question how a loving God could let you suffer? How could bad things happen if God exists?

Bad things happen because we live in a broken, sinful world, not because of a broken God. People are sinful, the world is full of hurt and pain and suffering, and has been since the fall of mankind. But God promises restoration. There will be an end to the pain, the hurt, and the devastation. Placing your hope in God gives you the strength and the mindset to endure the hardships of this life. The bible promises a day where there will be no more weeping, no more tears, no more pain for those who have given their hearts to Jesus. "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away" (ESV Revelation 21:4).

God has loved you, whether you've lived an easy life or a hard one, he's been there, he's seen you, he's wanted you.

God is better because we need him. Whether you recognize it in yourself or not, we are all sinful. We all fall short of perfection. We cause ourselves and others pain. We mess up, we destroy, we damage. The brokenness of this world results from our sinful nature. We are sinful and we need saving.

Christ is that saving grace. His death on the cross marks your imperfect, broken, flawed self as perfect when you accept God's gift. Grace is God's gift to you. You don't deserve it, you don't earn it, you can't ever be worthy of it. But by accepting Christ as your savior, you get to experience the love of God. You get to be marked as perfect for eternity.

How freeing is that? That there is a God who loves you so much, he sent his own son to die for you. He loves you so much that even if it was just to save you, nobody else, he would do it all over again because he loves you. He promises you everything. He promises to fill that hole in your heart, that hole that haunts you and has never been filled, despite how hard you've tried. He promises to be enough. He promises to give you the joy, peace, and love that will ensure you endure this difficult life. He promises to adopt you into his family and love you like no one else can.

This means a change in your life that will liberate you. No longer are you measured by your sin, your failures, your successes. You are called a child of God and no one and nothing can take that label from you. You are perfect because of who Christ is, not because of who you are. And God will never change. He is the same now, then, and forever. Meaning that if your place your hope in God, you will be seen as perfect in the only eyes that matter, now, then, and forever.

But God is just and loving, so he doesn't force you to accept his free gift. And while being a child of God calls you to a life of discomfort, struggle, and pain, the gain of following Christ is bigger than all of that. I can claim on the authority of God's word and from my own life experience that God is enough. He is better in ways you can't imagine. He allows you to experience the fullness of life with him because the joys of this world are better experienced when you've tasted the joy of the one who created them.

God wants you to know him. He asks for whatever broken, shattered, messy heart you can give him. Because he wants to restore you and transform you and love you and fill you. He doesn't need you. He wants you.

God is worth it. Give him your heart and let him show you his love for you. Let him show you how he's better.