We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. I John 2:3-6
It is funny how God speaks sometimes. Often, at least for me, there tends to be a series of verses that stand out to me when He is speaking to me about something in particular in my life. I guess right now it must have to do with witnessing. After the loss of my Aunt, I have really been thinking a lot about how so many people assume they will be going to heaven when they die. Before I trusted in the blood of Jesus Christ, I was the same. In my mind, I was a good person. I was nice to everyone, I listened to my parents, I didn't drink, smoke, do drugs, sex, or steal. I was one of those good kids; you know, the kind that parents can be proud of.. the kind that does what they are told without mouthing off, always trying to please people. I helped everyone. And... by all means... I loved God.... who wouldn't? That is what good girls did. God was a good guy who would only harm the bad guys. I didn't have to go to church to know who He was or to pray. I could pray anywhere. There really wasn't a reason to go. In fact.. it was an inconvenience on my life. The God I knew didn't care if I was in church or not. He just wanted me to be a good person. And as far as Jesus Christ. Sure.. I believe he died on the cross for my sins. That was simple. I saw a picture of him on the cross and I believed it because someone told me that. But... had someone told me of Buddha or Mohammed or someone else.. I would have believed that as well. My belief was really not in the saving grace of Jesus Christ; it was in something someone told me that sounded really good. It meant that I would go to Heaven. Heaven was something I always heard was a good place and where I wanted to go.. certainly not Hell. THat was a place for bad people and it was a place of fire. So,I confidently knew I was going to go to Heaven if I died.

Well, I had believed in something that was not the truth. I believed in a picture, a fairy tale, a lie. I believed in something that simply made me feel good about myself. I believed in Heaven because I didn't want to go to Hell.

But as someone began sharing with me what the Bible said and by the grace of God, He showed me the truth and I finally trusted in the true, saving grace, of the blood of Jesus Christ. Not in a picture of a man on a cross, not in the hope of being saved from Hell... but in the honest truth of knowing that I was a sinner, separated from God, in need of a savior. And trusting in the truth that the blood of Jesus Christ, that was shed on the cross for MY sins, was the final and complete payment REQUIRED by God to save my soul.

And that, my friends, is what changed my life. That is what made me a new creature. It was that trust in Christ that changed the way I lived. And it is that faith that works within me to cause me to desire to obey Him and to desire to walk as Jesus did. Do I succeed? Oh NO! Far too often I fail. But the difference now is that I HATE failing and I long to walk like Christ. I long to obey His word and I long to be the woman that Christ desires me to be.

It is not up to me to judge the heart of someone. I can certainly look at someone's life and be concerned if someone's life does not reflect Jesus Christ; especially someone who says "I'm a Christian". The tricky and dangerous part is assuming that someone is or is not saved. You see, as a Christian, we stumble and fall and stray from the path. We can certainly be struggling with our walk and appear to not know Him. I have told the kids far too often that if someone were to walk in to my home there would be ample cause for them to wonder if I knew Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. When I am exhausted, hormonal, not feeling well, stressed, or some other physical state of mind... my actions are from from reflecting Christ. So it gets dangerous when I look at someone and immediately say to myself "I doubt if they know Christ" simply because of how they are behaving. But.. when someone I know and love has a walk that never reflects Jesus Christ... when they have no desire to obey His word or open up the bible or hear anything about Jesus and yet they claim to be a Christian.... I think it is ok for me to doubt. There is a difference between someone who is a believer and struggles with their walk and someone who claims to be a believer and simply could care a less if their actions match up or not. THe bible says it very clearly....
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'Matthew 7:15-22

So.. that is what I struggle with right now. I don't want to judge someone on the basis of their actions. I know I fail and many could wonder if I am saved or not. But I don't want to dismiss their actions simply for fear that I am judging them. What happens if I hold back and they die having confidence that they will go to heaven of a feeling rather then basing their salvation on the truth? It will be then that they find out that their belief was false. It is then that it is too late.