legalism

i have never been one to keep my thoughts to myself about my feelings towards legalism.

it makes me angry.

it makes me sad.

it makes me laugh.

the problem with legalism is so much more then a list of rules. it is a person trying to earn or prove their faith.

there was a point in my life that i would look at someone and judge them by how they looked. i thought i had the gift of telling who was a christian by the shoes they wore and the Bible they carried.
wrong....

legalism made me feel holier than i really was. it was like a check list of how to be holy.

shirt nicely pressed. check

shirt tucked in. check

hair parted to the right (never the left). check

face shaved and smooth. check

KJV Bible under my armpit. check

chin slightly raised. check

i honestly thought this made me a better christian. that my outward appearance was what God looked at before He looked at my soul, but i was so far from the truth. i worked so hard to please the ones around me that i forgot that God could careless about my outward appearance. that my perfect hair and pressed shirt meant nothing.

i have moved beyond that point in my life. i now know that God cares more about my heart and love towards others.

yet, i still fight legalism. i have hate in my heart towards those who push it. i find myself wanting to take a cardboard sign and march around certain places proclaiming legalism is from hell.

i feel it would be a just battle, but the more i learn about God, the more i realize it isn't my battle.

that the bitter feelings towards former "teachers and preachers" is just as bad as their need for rules and order.

i will never like legalism, but i must learn to love (just vomited in my mouth a little) the ones who force it. this will be a struggle. to look beyond the outward and see their heart. to see that they are worth it.

how will they know the truth unless someone tells them?

and when i say "tell", i don't mean through negative avenues.