"What do you think about religion?"

I was asked, rather recently actually, on my opinion of religion.

And of course, since I cannot process and organize thoughts in my verbal speech, my answer was a blabbering mess that did not well represent my relationship with Christ. And also because, I'd never thought about it before.

What do I think about religion?

My pathetic answer ran something along the lines of, 'it provides a moral foundation/baseline for people. And it also gives you something to hope in.' That's true, yes, but as I said, I didn't demonstrate my beliefs very well.

I've always thought of Christianity as my faith, my belief, but not my religion.
In a possibly better response, I could have said:
Religion is.... religion. You know, it's what an individual believes in, lives by. For me though, I see Christianity more distinctly as a relationship than as a religion. Yes, Christianity is a religion, established by a certain set of beliefs.  
[That people do wrong against a perfect God and thus deserve punishment, but God placed Jesus, who was blameless, on the earth to take this punishment for us. That Jesus Christ was put to death on a cross and was dead for three days, but came to life again, defeating death, and erasing our wrong before God. That you must admit your wrongdoing and believe in Christ and what he did. That if and only you believe, you will be saved from eternal punishment, and given an eternal life, and relationship with God].

But what defines Christianity is not what we do, but what has already been done for us. We in fact, can do nothing really. All is requested is that we believe, that we love Christ. And it's in that relationship that I thrive and delight in. It's from that relationship with Christ that I am satisfied in life, that I find joy and peace despite trials, and that I act and do the things I do.
But the beauty of it is how there's nothing else required of  me. I don't need to be talented, or successful, or wealthy, or 'good' at life. Even if, at the end of the day, the world saw me as an absolute failure, I could still be completely and fully contented in Christ. And even if, I screwed up and disobeyed a ton of Jesus' commands, I could still admit my wrong and restore my relationship with Him.

I'm a mess. An absolute mess. I screw up all of God's commands, ALL the time. I actually screw up everything all the time. But in spite of this, and my wrong, and my injustice against Him, he dearly loves me. And all I must do, is believe and love Him too. And then I get this awesome guarantee of eternal life.
Ephesians 2:4-9
Romans 4:25-26, 10:4 

So this turned into a gospel sharing for y'all [who already know Christ]. A lengthy written blabbering of my thoughts on religion. At least it's better organized?
But oh well. It's always so good to remind yourself of how awesome the good news is :D

the end.
05.31.16