Stop Pretending You’re Not the Problem.

Let’s talk about the thing nobody in church wants to admit, there’s a lot of pretending going on. People walk in dressed in “holy,” but underneath it’s pride. They act like they’ve got it all together while secretly falling apart. They whisper about someone else’s sin just to feel better about their own. That’s not Jesus. That’s performance. That’s religion. The self-righteous point fingers. Jesus stretched out His hands. They condemn. He forgives. They build walls. He broke them down. We clap in church but we gossip in private. We preach grace but we give judgment. We raise our hands on Sunday and roll our eyes on Monday. We act like we’re the example when we’re still being healed ourselves. And the worst part? We think God’s impressed by it.

The truth is, self-righteousness is just sin wearing church clothes. It looks holy but smells of death because it depends on self instead of grace. “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.” — Matthew 15:8 You can quote Scripture, serve in ministry, post Bible verses, and still miss Jesus completely. Because Jesus isn’t impressed by your record. He’s drawn to your need. The Pharisees looked spotless on the outside, but Jesus called them “whitewashed tombs.” Perfect paint over dead bones. They were so busy judging sinners that they couldn’t see they were the ones most in need of mercy. And if we’re honest, sometimes that’s us. We talk about other people’s mess to avoid dealing with our own. We hide behind “discernment” when it’s really pride in disguise. We call it “truth” when it’s just our ego needing to feel superior.

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” — Romans 3:23 That means all of us. The fake perfect. The broken honest. The ones in pulpits. The ones in the pews. No one stands taller than another at the foot of the cross. So stop pretending. Stop acting like you earned what was only ever given. Grace levels the playing field. You’re not better than anyone. You’re just forgiven. And the moment you forget that, you become the very thing Jesus came to confront. When you start measuring others by their failures instead of remembering yours were nailed to the same cross, you’re living from law, not grace. And that law will eat you alive from the inside.

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” — James 4:6 If you really want to reflect Jesus, drop the mask. Be real. Be humble. Be grace to the people religion has rejected. Because Jesus didn’t come for the ones who think they’re righteous. He came for the ones who know they’re not. He came for the people the church side-eyes, the ones the perfect avoid. He came for the liars, the addicts, the failures, the ones who ran out of chances. That’s me. That’s you. That’s all of us. So let’s stop trying to look clean and start letting His blood remind us that we already are. Self-righteousness died at the cross. Stop resurrecting it.

If we are justified by faith, then why does James say a person is justified by works and not by faith alone?

People often ask, “If we are justified by faith, then why does James say a person is justified by works and not by faith alone?”
That is a very good question, and if we do not understand it through the lens of the gospel, we will fall back into trying to earn what Jesus already finished.

James 2:24 says, “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”
At first glance that sounds like it contradicts Paul, who said we are justified by faith apart from works in Romans 3:28. But it does not contradict. They are talking about two different kinds of justification.

Paul talks about being justified before God.
James talks about being justified before people.

God sees faith.
People see fruit.

That is exactly what Jesus meant when He said, “Let your light shine before men so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
Notice that He said, “before men.” God does not need to see your works to know your heart. But people cannot see faith. They only see action.

James gives an example. If someone is hungry or cold and you tell them, “Go in peace, be warm and filled,” but you do not actually help them, what good are your words? (James 2:15–17) People cannot see that you believe. They can only see if you love.

So when James says that faith without works is dead, he is not saying that faith does not save you. He is saying that faith that never shows up in love and action looks empty to people. But that does not mean God has not already justified you by faith.

The church gets this backward often. We try to make people produce fruit overnight. The moment someone gets saved, we expect them to instantly change every habit and behave perfectly. And when they struggle, we label them as not serious about God. No wonder so many end up condemned and burnt out.

Look at Abraham. Scripture says Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness in Genesis 15:6. That is when God justified him, long before he ever offered Isaac. By the time Abraham placed Isaac on the altar in Genesis 22, Isaac was already grown. That means many years passed between Abraham’s faith and the work that James mentioned. His good work did not make him righteous. It simply revealed the faith that already made him righteous.

Rahab’s story is the same. When she hid the spies in Joshua 2, she already believed in the Lord. She told them, “I know the Lord has given you this land. We have heard how He dried up the Red Sea for you and how He defeated the kings on the other side of the Jordan. The Lord your God is the supreme God of heaven above and earth below.”
Her faith came first. Her actions just revealed it.

So when James says Abraham and Rahab were justified by works, he is talking about their faith being seen, not earned.

And if you think about it, Abraham’s “good work” looked like offering his son, and Rahab’s “good work” looked like hiding spies and lying about it. Neither of those are law-keeping. Clearly James was not talking about being justified before God through perfect behavior. He was showing that real faith will eventually produce visible fruit.

That is why grace must always come first.
Grace is the root.
Good works are the fruit.

When you know how forgiven and loved you already are, that love begins to overflow. Jesus said, “A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out.” (Matthew 12:20) Even when your flame feels weak, God does not throw you away. He gently restores and breathes life back into you.

You do not have to force fruit to prove faith.
Just stay rooted in His love and rest in what Jesus already did.

Real works do not come from pressure.
They come from peace.

— Jimmy Belloso

The War in the Mind: When Imagination Becomes the Enemy

The Step before insanity is suspicion.

There’s a war going on that no one sees, but everyone feels, and it’s not out there in the world. It’s in the mind. The step before insanity is not rebellion. It’s suspicion. A seed of doubt planted in the soil of imagination. One thought “What if they meant that? What if I’m right? What if God’s showing me something no one else sees?” and suddenly, your mind becomes a movie studio for lies.

People are out here directing whole films in their heads, creating scenes, writing dialogue, and building conclusions with no proof. And the enemy sits back and calls it discernment. But the Word of God says something different. Romans 12:2 says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Not the removal of it. Not the replacement of it. Renewal.

The world tells you to escape your thoughts. Christ tells you to renew them. The world says, “Distract yourself.” Christ says, “Fix your mind on Me.” Because in Christ, transformation doesn’t come through numbing the mind, it comes through renewing it.

This is where the battle gets real. We don’t wrestle with flesh and blood, we wrestle with imaginations. The enemy doesn’t need to destroy your body if he can convince your mind to destroy itself. He whispers lies until they sound like discernment. He builds suspicion until it feels like revelation. And if you’re not rooted in the finished work of Jesus, you’ll call your anxiety “God’s voice.”

That’s not discernment. That’s deception. Discernment will always lead you to peace. Suspicion will always lead you to fear. And only one of those comes from God. The gospel calls us to renew our minds, to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Not every emotion, not every theory, not every “I feel like God said…” Every thought, brought into alignment with what Christ already finished.

Because when the Cross becomes the lens, confusion can’t live there. When grace fills the space, imagination gets healed. You don’t have to lose your mind to find peace. You just have to give your mind back to the One who made it. Let this be the season you stop fighting ghosts in your head and start resting in the truth of what Jesus already did. The war in your mind ends where His truth begins.

— Jimmy Belloso

Grace: God’s Only Cure for Sin

I want to start with this because it’s something so many of us get wrong. You are not called to battle sin with self-effort. You are called to grasp grace.

Think about it. Religion has trained us to believe that the fight against sin is about discipline, formulas, rules, and doing more, “Confess more. Pray longer. Avoid this. Do that.” The enemy loves it. He’s literally cheering when you try to “stop sin” by your own effort. Why? Because every time you focus on rules instead of Jesus, you keep your eyes off the only One who can actually set you free.

And here’s what I want to ask you today: with all the voices out there saying, “You’re being deceived by grace… grace is cheap… grace makes you careless,” how do we respond?

Romans 6:14 says it plainly:
"For sin shall no longer have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace."

Do you see it? Not under law. Under grace. That’s not optional. That’s not negotiable. That’s the way God designed it. That means Jesus already dealt with sin at the cross. He already defeated it. Sin has no authority over you.

So when people tell you that you’re being deceived by grace, let me tell you the truth: you cannot be deceived by grace.Grace is the very thing you need to overcome sin. Grace is the power that breaks sin’s hold. Grace is the reason sin no longer has dominion over your life.

Here’s the reality: many believers are trying to “take up their cross” by effort, by self-denial, by discipline, by pushing themselves harder, and they are missing the truth. We already died with Christ. We are already crucified with Him. Sin has already been defeated in us. What we need is to rest in His grace, to let Jesus’ finished work flow through us, to stop trying to fix ourselves and just live in what He has already done.

If you’re battling sin, stop trying to beat it yourself. Stop trying to fix yourself. Stop trying to fix anyone else. The enemy has trained you to think otherwise because he knows the truth: grace destroys sin’s dominion.

And don’t let anyone fool you into thinking grace is cheap. It isn’t. It’s radical. It’s sufficient. It’s the power of Jesus at work in your life. It’s the reason you’re saved, the reason you’re free, the reason sin cannot own you.

Your freedom doesn’t come from trying harder. It comes from letting Jesus’ grace flow into you and through you. That’s it. Let Him be your strength. Let Him be your deliverer. Let Him do what you cannot.

Stop chasing rules. Stop chasing formulas. Stop chasing programs. Grab hold of grace. Let it wash over you. Let it remind you daily: sin has no dominion over you because Jesus already paid the price.

Nothing else works. Nothing else saves. Nothing else heals. Grace does it all.

— Jimmy Belloso

You’re Not Called to Fix People

I used to think my job as a Christian was to fix everyone around me. If someone was struggling, lost, or hurting, I thought it was my responsibility to correct them, guide them, and basically “make them right.” I was exhausted, frustrated, and honestly, a little prideful.

Here’s the truth I had to learn the hard way: you’re not called to fix people. You’re called to love them. God changes hearts, not you.

We live in a world obsessed with “fixing” people. And I mean, religion practically trains us to do it. It whispers: “If they’d just do it right… if they’d just obey… if they’d just clean up their act, they’d be loved, they’d be accepted, they’d be right with God.”

Let me stop you right there. That is a lie. A trap. A deception. That’s the law masquerading as love.

The gospel flips everything we think we know. Grace doesn’t wait for people to get better. Grace meets people where they are broken, messy, imperfect, because that’s exactly where Jesus met you. You didn’t earn it. You didn’t clean yourself up first. You didn’t perform enough good deeds to deserve it. Grace found you in your mess. That’s the model. That’s the way. That’s the calling.

Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” You didn’t fix yourself to earn God’s love, and neither will anyone else.

Jesus said in John 13:34-35: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Notice it doesn’t say, “If they change first, then love them.” Love is the signal. Change is God’s job.

I’ll be honest, this took me a long time to actually live. There are people I’ve tried to “fix,” to force into a mold I thought they should fit. And it always ended in frustration. Until I started just loving. Really loving. Meeting them where they are. Listening. Praying. Being present. And when I let God do the changing, hearts began to soften. People started to transform, not because of my words, my wisdom, or my correction, but because of Jesus living in me and showing up through me.

Stop looking at others’ faults. Stop picking apart their failures. Stop telling yourself that if you love them enough, teach them enough, push them enough, they’ll finally be “fixed.” That’s religious thinking. That’s law masquerading as love.

Here’s the kicker: loving people without trying to fix them is liberating. It frees you from the burden of control and perfectionism. It lets the gospel breathe through you. And it gives others room to experience God’s grace in a real, tangible way.

If you’re struggling with this, if you feel like your calling is to correct, judge, or fix, stop. Take a deep breath. Step back. Pray. Ask God to show you how to love the way Jesus does: freely, radically, and without expectation. Remember, transformation is His work, not yours.

Practical ways to love without fixing:

1. Listen more than you speak. Sometimes your presence is the only “message” someone needs.

2. Pray for them daily, without an agenda.

3. Show kindness in small ways: a message, a meal, a smile.

4. Let go of expectations. Their journey is between them and God.

So today, let that sink in:
You’re not God. You’re not the Holy Spirit. You’re not the fixer. You’re the vessel of grace. The messenger of love. The reflection of Jesus.

Love. Let God do the rest.

And here’s what I hope you take with you today: loving people doesn’t require correction. Loving people doesn’t require perfection. Loving people doesn’t demand change before it’s given. Love simply loves, because Jesus first loved you. That’s it. That’s radical. That’s gospel. That’s freedom.

—Jimmy Belloso

The Start of Something New

I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. Not just start a blog, but start a space where I can speak freely, share honestly, and point people to Jesus, the One who fills every emptiness, heals every wound, and turns ordinary life into something extraordinary.

Life moves fast. Days blur together. We get caught up in what we think we’re supposed to do, how we’re supposed to look, act, or measure up. And in the middle of it all, we can feel this emptiness, this longing, like something’s missing. The truth is, there is something missing, us trying to fill ourselves instead of letting Him.

God’s grace isn’t complicated. It’s not earned. It’s not a reward for being “good enough.” Grace is Jesus saying, “I’ve done it all. You don’t have to prove anything to Me.” And when you truly grasp that, your whole life starts to change. You see people differently. You walk differently. You love differently.

This blog isn’t about rules or trying harder. It’s about reflecting on His love daily, about seeing the gospel in the small moments: waking up, making a cup of coffee, walking down the street, taking a photograph. God’s grace touches everything when you let it.

I’m not perfect. I fail daily. But the beauty of the gospel is that Jesus doesn’t call you to perfection, He calls you to Himself. And that’s more than enough.

So this is me stepping into something new. A place to share what God is teaching me, what He’s doing in my heart, and how His love can meet you exactly where you are. My hope is simple: that as you read, you’ll see Him more clearly, and that you’ll know, without a doubt, that His grace is for you too.

Let’s start this journey together.

— Jimmy Belloso