Have you ever thought that you couldn’t possibly be a Christian because living up to God’s expectations would be too hard? Well, maybe think again.

There’s a pre-conceived idea among many unbelievers that Christians think themselves better than others, and in some cases you’d be right to draw that conclusion. Knowing his fate of the impending crucifixion, Jesus commissioned his disciples to go and tell the world about him and how to achieve salvation. He told them to meet regularly, pray together, love one another and set an example of how to live for God.

What he didn’t say was “go and erect a building with a pointy tower, pay someone to stand at the front and be the broker between God and people and then spend all the mission money on the gutters, windows and fixing the roof. Now I’m not against denominational church as such, but we can’t ignore the fact that history has seen some church institutions at the centre of abuses of power and neglect scandals.

Jesus left the world with just two simple instructions – ‘love God, love your neighbour as yourself, and share the good news of salvation with others. That’s it! Because love solves everything. Love creates peace not war. It shares wealth and doesn’t harbour greed. Love cares and doesn’t abuse. And it shows patience instead of anger.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic to live in a perfect world of love? Yet we never will until Jesus comes again. But all’s not lost – God sees our imperfections and yet he still loves us. And what’s more, he has used some of the most imperfect people in history to achieve great things.

Jesus chose 12 ordinary working class guys to be his disciples and look what amazing people they became. His right hand woman, Mary Magdalene was possessed by several demons before he healed her.

He used prostitutes, philanderers and even murderers to become great leaders.

This is good news. Christians are not perfect people – they know they need the love of a perfect God whose grace knows no end. Jesus said “Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest”. There is great healing in knowing Jesus. He is waiting patiently for you to reach out to him.