"Christianity is about developing Jesus-like Character, not becoming an enforcer of the law"
Do you remember the first day of your new life? We repented, admitted we were sinners, and accepted Jesus into our heart. As time goes on, we got to know more about the Bible and learned that there are certain laws and regulations we had to follow in order to live a life which God will be pleased. So we try to live a "pure life", we try to give up bad habits and try to read the Bible and pray regularly. But after a while we realised its so hard to live a "holy life"! We got angry because we couldn't achieve the state of "holiness". We then put on more pressure on ourself and set higher targets, only fail to achieve them once again. The stress builds within, we began to hate the laws and regulations, finally some might say "I had enough, I will neved be Holy, I'll just give up trying and go back to my old life".
Most long-time Christians falls into this trap. "Because I am a long time Christian, I SHOULD be able to pray for longer, read bible more often, I SHOULD be able to live a holy life, otherwise I am not honouring God. " We became a absolute perfectionist. We put a lot of pressure on ourself. If we mistepped once, we would get so frustrated.
Jesus was a law-breaker, at least to the standard what Prarisees possessed. He broke many laws which were strictly held by the Pharisees, and they hated Him so much they wanted to kill him. From their viewpoint, Jesus's behaviour were nowhere close to "Holiness" or even "legal".
The problem with the Prarisees was not that they did not read bible, or they did not pray or they did not give tie. They obeyed all the laws but forgot to develop a God-like character. The laws are there to indicate and remind us what are the rights and wrongs. Being a law-follower would only bring pressure and stress.
Christianity faith is about developing a Jesus-like Character. Its by nature that when we become a Jesus-follower, we would automatically move further away from sin.
Its very possible to be totally legal and totally evil at the same time. But at the end of the day, you will only feel fulfilled if you developed a fulfilled character. "What good is it for you to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit your very self?" (Luke 9:25, NIV)
