I remember going to the club on Saturday night, then showing up to church on Sunday morning, feeling like such a hypocrite. I knew I had lust in my heart, was drunk and high off of 5 blunts from the previous night, and still tried to show up at church like everything was fine. This was a long time ago, but the fact remains: It took me a while to realize that my body is the temple—not the church building, but my own body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Your sin might look different than mine, but the main thing is recognizing that it ain’t right. Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

What’s deep about this is that I truly believe I had the Holy Spirit in me. Yet, I kept going against Him over and over again. Repentance started to feel fake because I was sinning willfully. Don’t get me wrong, we all sin and need to repent, but it’s different when we just keep doing the same thing over and over without any remorse.

I didn’t write this to preach, but to say this: the church building doesn’t save you, and it can’t save you. Grace plus faith saves you. It’s God coming into your heart, taking out a heart of stone, and giving you a heart of flesh. That’s when true repentance takes place, and a real relationship with God begins.

Your relationship with your mother, father, sister, brother, husband, wife, or kids doesn’t compare to the relationship we should have with the Lord Jesus. He’s with us every second of every minute of every hour of every day. This relationship is happening all the time, and it should be the most important thing in our lives—everything we do should flow from it.

The beauty is, when we go into the church building and gather with the rest of the body, there’s power in that unity. Something powerful can happen when we come together.

Let me be clear: the church might be the best place for you because, hopefully, God’s truth is coming forth. However, know that it is the word of God and not the building that can change your heart forever.