I grew up in a Baptist Church which historically was very sin oriented. All of us kids departed from that as soon as we could get out of the house. There are too many spiritual pathogens related to that kind of focus. Jesus said "wash the inside of the cup, the outside will become clean". I started going to interdenominational churches that understood the true focus of Christianity, to present God's heart as He is displayed in the new testament by Christ.

It took me years to get beyond the hard programing from my early experience, just as it was also hard for national Israel to understand that God was moving beyond the previous dispensation (old testament)to a new one with His son through whom we (Christians) now have freedom to receive forgiveness and love and to then to pass it on as we have received. The Law of the Old testament kind of kills us and bring us to the end of ourselves which then prepares us to receive Forgiveness.

It's very interesting that you would ask this. It's very ironic. This brings me now to the hardest thing in my walk as a Christian that I "HAD" to do.
I had the hardest time receiving the forgiveness of God. It was so hard for me. I wanted I guess to clean myself up and then to present myself to Him clean. It was primarily cigs. I would look up and holding a cigarette up in the air would say "I'll beat this"! It's like He would Laugh and say "no You Won't"!!
Man, It beat the shit out of me for years. Finally one day sitting on my back porch I said "God I guess I just need your forgiveness for this. His word that settled in my heart was "It's about time". It took me years to yield to His Love and Forgiveness, Yeeeeears.

If I would have beaten It myself then I would have been prone to self righteousness which is faaaar worse than my smoking habit.

This is why Jesus referred to the "Religious Right" as self righteous, with references to religious pride. They were under the delusion that they were sinless. That they had cleaned themselves up.

I am so glad that God loved me enough to not let me settle for this.
His word states "God resists the Proud but gives grace to the humble".
To find myself in a position of being resisted by God would be a real shitty state.

I love Him for this. He is so much sweeter than I had ever thought.
The Christian Yoke is actually lighter. To believe otherwise is to still be under the weight of religion. I explained religion under a previous thread. I don't know exactly where.

Have a great Holiday my friend.