Following Christ

I am just learning about blogging and how to organize the different topics that I intend to write about. As a test, I figured I would write about a topic that is on my mind from time to time which is religion. As I thought about that label - it occurred to me that I could very quickly paint myself into a corner in most people's mind - Christian, LDS, Male, White, American, etc. While I am not ashamed of any of those titles - I would really like better to be known as a True Follower of Jesus Christ. I realize that is a label to be earned rather than self-proclaimed and in the end only His opinion matters. Believing in Christ is much more than defining a specific religious preference for a census - it is about developing a sincere relationship with a real person. I am okay without knowing all the detailed information about how we came into existance and got on top of the food chain because I think that can be learned at some future point in time. For now, I am trying to focus on the essential revealed truths of our purpose in life. In essence, God sent us here to further develop our personalities and provided a way for us to learn from mistakes. That way involves a Savior who paid the full price for our sins so that we could return to our Heavenly Home after our earthly journey. While our Father's plan involves a large supporting cast ranging from parents, leaders, behind the scene helpers, etc. it all hinged on Christ's ability to live a perfect life and endure the full weight of our sins. He accomplished His part and now it is up to us to accomplish ours through following His guidance and meeting the conditions He has laid out for us which will enable us to be forgiven. That's my plan!