2 Corinthians 12.21 laments, I will be grieved because many of you have not given up your old sins. 
You have not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality, and eagerness for lustful pleasure.
Seeing is believing and those who believe should be causing others to see a difference in their life as a result of Jesus entering into it as Lord and Savior.
When we limit God to a belief in our life we make Him an addition to what we already have in our life. We are hoping that the extra ingredient of God will somehow override all the other ingredients in our mix which have only produced bad results.
Adding sugar to that which is foul will not change the foul nature of the product. All new ingredients and a whole new bowl need to be utilized to make a good product.
This does not mean we clean ourselves up before God will have anything to do with us. God already knows we are a wreak. He invites us to come to Him damaged and broken so He can heal and restore us by causing all that we are to become new.
However, having come to Him we cannot return to our old ways. Repentance is the Christian word for leaving the past behind, all the thinking and doing that displeased God and instead doing what God wants us to do beginning by thinking the way God views the world.
The world expects this behavior of Christians. They are quick to point out our hypocrisy if we live otherwise. Its not that Christians are perfect people but they are people pursuing the perfect One Who changes them from the inside out so that they become more like Him Who is perfect.
Lying, stealing, hating, taking revenge, cheating, lusting are all things people regularly do. Speaking the truth in love, giving, forgiving, encouraging, overlooking, remaining faithful and being kind are habits that are not normal but stand out from the crowd as demonstrating the presence of God in our lives.
God is not like us. Those who love God should not be like everyone else. Not because we are trying to be ‘better’ but because we follow Him Who is different and that difference is better.
Better for us and better for everyone else as well.
