As a Christian, if I do not follow the teachings of Christ, I have failed. As a human, sometimes I will fail. I must accept both as true. But when I fail, I must not make the failure as an excuse not to try. Christ did not die so that I could remain in my sin, he died so that I could be free.

If you’re interested, there is a book that goes in great detail about this. It’s called “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The book describes Bonhoeffer’s position that being a Christian without following Jesus cheapens grace. He claims that true grace is “costly” in terms of our personal sacrifice.

We are justified by faith alone. But the corollary is that we must sacrifice our own life for the cause of God.

If you take the first position but not the second, you get cheap grace that doesn’t change lives. Reverse that, and you get salvation by works, which is not IMO how the Bible describes it. The point being, you need both to be a Christian.

In that sense, maybe it’s all the more important to keep in touch with that awe of God. That awe is so important in our love of God.

“Love isn’t something that we feel so much as something we do. Christ doesn’t ask his followers to merely harbor tender affections towards his neighbor. Christ asks his followers to reach out toward his neighbor, to draw him into his own awareness…We don’t have to like our neighbor to love him. We don’t have to cultivate tender thoughts toward him (though that helps). The only requirement is to behave toward him in a way that draws him toward God.”

Your commonality of Baptism can help identify a Christian outwardly, but charity is both inward and outward. While at first it may be only an outward expression of love, if it does not translate into an inner feeling of love for all mankind (love, as in caring for that person as a child of God.), the outward expressions will turn into hollow actions that will not persist. These outward expressions do stimulate inner love, but are dross without inward love.