I read a quote the other day that has really stayed with me. It said, “It’s so easy to love Jesus, but it’s so hard to be a Christian.”
Have you ever felt that way? I think it’s fairly common. A person comes to faith in Jesus, is thankful for all that God has done, and then begins the uphill battle of doing all the right things. Start doing this, stop doing that. Always do this thing, NEVER do that thing, and so on.
So the new believer fills life with doing things and avoiding things, going here and not going there. And it works for a while. Some of the old sin habits have vanished, and new habits have come in to replace them. Things are looking good.
But then, the person realizes that not enough has changed. Those old thought life images are still there. Those habits that don’t belong still flare up occasionally. And if the Christian life is supposed to be joyful, “why am I still so angry?”
So sometimes people just give up. They’ll try doing enough things to beat the old life, but they don’t work. The person will go to another church, because maybe that’s the problem, and it doesn’t work. Even though the person knows that Jesus did something in his or her life, it’s just too hard to keep up appearances.
The gospel of “get saved, then do more, and try harder” has failed. Of course it has. Because it is based on a mixture of what Jesus has done, and what we have to do. And we just don’t have it in us to be good enough for long enough.
Let me say: the Christian life is hard. No, not hard… impossible. For you, anyway. Only one Person has been able to pull off the Christian life, and it’s not you. If you get bogged down in all the things you have to do, you will stumble and fall. If you trust in what Jesus has done, that’s a different story.
It’s called grace. It’s not just for salvation, but for everyday life also. I think of Jesus’ words in Matthew 11: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Look to Him, trust in His grace, not in your performance, and press on!
Have you ever felt that way? I think it’s fairly common. A person comes to faith in Jesus, is thankful for all that God has done, and then begins the uphill battle of doing all the right things. Start doing this, stop doing that. Always do this thing, NEVER do that thing, and so on.
So the new believer fills life with doing things and avoiding things, going here and not going there. And it works for a while. Some of the old sin habits have vanished, and new habits have come in to replace them. Things are looking good.
But then, the person realizes that not enough has changed. Those old thought life images are still there. Those habits that don’t belong still flare up occasionally. And if the Christian life is supposed to be joyful, “why am I still so angry?”
So sometimes people just give up. They’ll try doing enough things to beat the old life, but they don’t work. The person will go to another church, because maybe that’s the problem, and it doesn’t work. Even though the person knows that Jesus did something in his or her life, it’s just too hard to keep up appearances.
The gospel of “get saved, then do more, and try harder” has failed. Of course it has. Because it is based on a mixture of what Jesus has done, and what we have to do. And we just don’t have it in us to be good enough for long enough.
Let me say: the Christian life is hard. No, not hard… impossible. For you, anyway. Only one Person has been able to pull off the Christian life, and it’s not you. If you get bogged down in all the things you have to do, you will stumble and fall. If you trust in what Jesus has done, that’s a different story.
It’s called grace. It’s not just for salvation, but for everyday life also. I think of Jesus’ words in Matthew 11: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Look to Him, trust in His grace, not in your performance, and press on!