Jesus died for our sins, and in doing so gave us the gracious gift of getting into Heaven, so long as we believe in God and what His Son did for us.

We don’t have to be perfect to get there, but we should try to do what is right along the way. But what happens when we fail to make the right decision?

On a daily basis, you are faced with choice after choice. You come up against temptations and have hard decisions to make. You might come across people with negative attitudes or difficult personalities. And while you may try very hard to act appropriately, sometimes less-than-desirable emotions take over. But just because you may sometimes act in an ungodly way does not mean that suddenly you are exempt from getting into Heaven.

We get to go to Heaven because we have already entrusted our souls to God, believed in Jesus and accepted that Jesus died on the cross to save us. Through this God has given us grace and mercy, but this doesn’t give us a free pass to behave ill toward others or knowingly choose the wrong path. Nor does it give us the right to be boastful or prideful when we do the right thing.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast. —Ephesians 2:8-9, KJV

How you view Heaven is as personal as your relationship with God. You get to Heaven based on God’s grace, mercy and love. It is not by some supernatural check list with “good” heading one column and “bad” in the other, hoping to have more checked off in the good column than the bad.

It is, however, this grace, mercy and love from God that should keep you striving to be good to others. It should push you to be a better person, not because you need more items checked off in the good column, but because God was merciful enough to let you into Heaven on His grace alone.

Life has a way of sweeping by with the mundane, trivial and yet all-consuming tasks that occur day after day. It is easy to get caught up in the race and rely on emotions as you wade through your day.

Being short with your children, angry toward your spouse or talking back to your coworker are not reasons to keep you out of Heaven. However, they are good growing lessons. When you fail to be “good,” those moments are opportunities to change yourself for the better.

Sometimes we forget to ask for forgiveness for these moments when we are not at our best. Other times, we manage to say we’re sorry and fix the situation, but even this is not the forgiveness that God is speaking of when He says we have been saved. Jesus paid for our sins so God would forgive us. It is this forgiveness that has saved us and will let us into Heaven, so long as we believe.

For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. —John 3:17, KJV

If you find yourself making poor choices or you just can’t seem to do the right thing, trust God to change you and don’t worry about getting into Heaven. Since you know where your journey will take you in the end, concentrate on making the best of the road you are currently on.

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