Now what?
I would love to say that once you've accepted His forgiveness, everything is good and you'll no longer struggle with that sin.
But I can't.
Which is why, to be completely honest, I've been putting off writing this blog.
Sometimes Christianity is portrayed as a prosperity gospel. "Add Jesus to your life and everything will get better. You'll be successful, you won't struggle, you'll be liked by everyone...yada, yada, yada."
Really?
Where in the bible did someone come out like that for following Christ? The apostles were either executed, crucified, hung, burned, beheaded, flayed, beaten, stoned, and one of them was exiled. They were hated and persecuted for believing in Christ as the Son of God just as many of the early Christians were.
I don't know about you, but to me that's not better. That's worse...waayyyyy worse.
Adding Jesus to your life doesn't make it easier, not if you're really in this thing. It makes it harder.
The reason I'm saying this is because I don't want my last post to mislead anyone. Yes, every sin is forgiven. Yes, God gives us grace upon grace. But, that doesn't mean we can keep on sinning and it definitely doesn't mean that the sin in our lives will automatically disappear.
It's been my experience that Christianity has become a "pray the prayer and go to church on Sunday" thing. That's how I've lived it out most of the time anyways. But, the more and more I read the bible, the more and more I look at how Jesus lived, how the apostles lived, and how the early Christians lived, I can't help but see a huge difference between their conversions and mine.
They changed radically.
It's crazy because Jesus even spells it out for us in the bible.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. Matthew 16:24-25
A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:25-27
We literally have to give up our lives. Our WHOLE lives. Every single bit of it. We have to die to ourselves to become a disciple. We have to sacrifice ourselves to be a true follower of Christ.
"You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. Matthew 10:22
We will be hated.
How's that for a prosperity gospel?
Add Jesus to your life and you will be hated and you will have to die.
There's something you don't hear everyday.
When did Christianity become easy? When did we sugarcoat it so much that it became something that we can just throw into our day whenever we want? A little bit here, a little bit there, throw some good works and church in and everything's fine.
If you can't tell, I'm a little on edge. I've been struggling with how to combat sin all summer and I was really excited to be able to share it with you once I figured it out. Well, I know the answer now, but it's not the one I wanted to hear.
I have to die.
I don't want to. I don't want to give up my desires, my earthy dreams, my comforts. I don't want to surrender every area of my life to God.
But, that's what this is. It's living for something bigger than yourself. It's living your life for Him because he loved you first, because He sacrificed first, because He died first. And he did it for you.
God never promises that our lives will be easy. However, he does promise that He will be with us every step of the way, that He will carry our burdens, and that it will all be worth it.
"Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." Isaiah 41:10
"Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall." Psalm 55:22
"Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later." Romans 8:18
"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." John 16:33
The truth is that being a Christian is the hardest thing you will ever have to do. It will cost you everything. That's not something the pastor usually says at the invitation, but it is something Jesus said from the get go.
Thankfully, he didn't just end it there. Jesus came to give us an abundant, fulfilling life. So, while it won't be easy, it will be completely and utterly worth it. God created us so that nothing will satisfy us except Himself. I really love how CS Lewis phrases it:
In the next few posts I'll be hashing out what it looks like, in my life at least, to surrender. Battles will be fought and messes will be made, but most of all, God will be glorified. So what do you say?
It's time to die.
