Following Jesus is not about knowing the right answer to every question. Following Jesus is about knowing a savior whose love changes how you think about the world and how you act in the world.

Here’s the truth: Every person is broken. We are flawed, self-destructive individuals who leave a trail of pain and suffering behind us. Before you throw down the paper in disgust, let me hasten to acknowledge that people have a great capacity for good, too. A clear-eyed examination of the world around us reveals that good and evil are present in every person. My experience, though, has been that even the good things that I do are flawed and will eventually degenerate into something hurtful without continuous monitoring and correction.

Unforeseen consequences lurk behind every good action. I think that my motives are pure, but hindsight (and talking to a therapist!) reveals that some less than noble motivations which twisted my good intentions were also present. At the very least, someone is always ready to misunderstand and take offence at my efforts to bring something good into the world.

On a small scale—in individual lives—and on a large scale—in communities or in a society—this brokenness twists and corrupts every human project. This is what I think that the Apostle Paul is talking about when he says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” in Romans 3:23.

But the good news—the Gospel—is that “while we were still helpless…while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6, 8)! When we accept Jesus as our savior he frees us from the power of sin that corrupts everything we do and helps us live a new life free from sin’s corruption (Romans 6). And when we fail to live up to that new life (Romans 7) we have this promise: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1)! You are accepted—without condemnation—by God when you claim Jesus as your savior. Your mistakes, your sin, your brokenness, your evil thoughts and actions are entirely covered by Jesus’s righteousness. And when you invite him to live his life through you, the Holy Spirit will purge the evil from your system.

This is good news, dear reader. You do not have to be trapped in your brokenness and sin. The God who loves you unconditionally has made a way of escape for you. New life—uncorrupted, incorruptible, condemnation-free life—is available through Jesus.

It is experiencing this new life in Christ that changes how you think about the world and act in it. Your new life will not give you answers to every question. Your new life will instead compel you to love in new ways. How can you mistreat a fellow human being when you know that Jesus died for them? How can you tolerate injustice and cruelty toward a person or a people that Jesus loved to the point of giving up his life for them? Your new knowledge—isn’t experience a type of knowing?—of Jesus changes everything. The seeds of the Gospel have been planted. What fruit will it bear in your life?

Bob McAlpine is the District Pastor, San Luis Valley Seventh-day Adventist Churches