“Good” behavior often masks the true picture of living a life of Christ.
I will be the first to admit, I am a perfectionist.
I grew up with parents who taught me admirably right from wrong and good from bad. I always wanted to follow the rules and receive the gold star by my name. I was the kid in kindergarten who never got her card pulled and grew 10 shades of red, when the teacher got on to me for talking.
As a child, I was recklessly abandoned in my faith. I was fostered in a community of believers who taught me that Jesus was the only answer. I loved the Lord, with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my mind. I wept at the feet of Jesus.
Then, I became religious. I was content with being obedient (although EXTREMELY stubborn and my mom will attest to this) and overall “good”.
Then, life happened.
Friendships became hard. Boys broke my fragile heart. School became exhausting. Dance obligations became stressful.
And in it all, I lost my Light. I lost the ability to graciously bow before my God and say, “You are still Good.” I put God into a box to say,
• He is good as long as life is going well.
• He is good if I am obeying.
• He is good when I make straight A’s
• He is good, if I am doing “good”.
• He is good when I’m center stage.
Often times, we box our Lord into American Morality. If I go to church Sunday morning, if I don’t say a cuss word, if I obey my parents, if I don’t drink alcohol, I am good, and therefore, I am good with God.
But when life gets hard, as mine did, we start to ask,
Is my God good?
In my case, I questioned everything about Him and His Goodness. And in this doubt, He built my Faith.
Saying we are Christians looks good. We look moral, charitable, kind, gentle, and so much more.
We think choosing to follow Christ means a life of him orchestrating a line of blessings of the perfect school, job, and significant other, among many other things. We think, if I choose God, life will be easier.
SPOILER ALERT:
It’s just the opposite.
This is first illustrated in the picture of the Cross. This act that brought us LIFE was first a horrifying scene.
Imagine the pain of rusty nails piercing your skin, as you hang naked, nailed to splintered wood, as the people you love spit on you and mock you.
Now, remember that Jesus felt this pain. Jesus, who was without fault, who loved all, who healed the sick, who mended the broken-hearted, who raised people from the dead. Christ carried this pain so that we may live FREE. Free as we choose Jesus.
BUT…
Choosing to follow our God means sacrifice. It means suffering. It means death.
We must sacrifice the idols we have put in front of God in order to follow him completely.
We must suffer in order to fully understand the depth of His Grace that covers ALL of our sin.
We must die to the expectations and “good” behavior we are so routinely following in order to recklessly fall in love with the One who created us.
Here is the thing:
• Courage does not come from hiding in the comfort of our safe places
• Strength does not come from making easy decisions
• Character isn’t built without trial and tribulation
We suffer here in this temporal earth, but we are promised a GREATER treasure of eternal life in Heaven FOREVER.
We must be reminded of this gruesome reality.
Living a life abandoned to Christ does not always mean a picture perfect picket fence.
This life brings hardship, because we live in a fallen world, but He is greater. Life eternal is so much brighter, and this suffering builds our God character.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”
-Matthew 5:10“For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
-Matthew 7:14
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