christianity – Page 3 – The Will to Wake Up

Evangelical churches are often characterized in the media for stirring souls toward salvation with sermons about damnation and fiery flames. Even in small group discipling conversations, the emphasis is often on gaining eternal life rather than the earthly benefits of following Jesus. While eternal life certainly lasts longer than our time on Earth, it isn’t the only – or perhaps even most important – aspect of a relationship with God.

When we love Jesus, we will obey – or at least do our best to obey – His teachings (John 14:15). And what is Jesus’ number one command?

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Luke 10:37

You know how spending time with someone, even someone completely different from you, can cause you to pick up their mannerisms and understand their perspective? The same is true of a relationship with Jesus. If you spend the rest of your life with Him, even when your growth feels slow, you are becoming more like Him. Your heart softens as it fills with His love and pours out on those around you.

You will find yourself naturally seeking out the interests of others above your own. You will crave honest and authentic relationships. You will pause before making major decisions and seek godly counsel. Even if your life looks more difficult and your faith causes you to make sacrificial choices, you will be filled with joy and the strength to keep going. And on the rough days, when you feel alone or defeated, you won’t stay stuck in those emotions because you have someone who loves you unconditionally to whom you can call.

When you approach someone without faith and explain that they should submit their life to Christ in order to be more kind and selfless, you may unintentionally come off as selfish. It’s like saying, “I just want you to be saved so that you treat me better.” In truth, they are the one who suffers the most from not having a relationship with Jesus.

The longer they try to do life without unconditional love, the harder their hearts will become. They turn inward for assurance and comfort and love, but they won’t find it there, no matter how desperately they search. Empty and defeated, they will invest in outward sources, whether it be relationships, wealth, physical health, or even humanitarian work.

While those sources may provide immediate comfort, they won’t sustainably meet their deeper needs. People come and go. The economy collapses. Illness hits. Causes and campaigns, even the most noble of them, fade out of relevance eventually. Or enthusiasm for them does when they try to take on the burdens of the world without God’s strength and comfort.

Naturally, when all else fails, they turn back to themselves, realizing they are all they have left. The world encourages us to pump ourselves up with motivational mantras: “You are special”, “You are worthy”, “You are loved”. But when these phrases come from ourselves, they don’t mean anything. We have been designed to need validation from an outside source. Sadly, we often turn to people who don’t have the capacity to love us fully 100% of the time.

But here is where God reenters the picture, though He’s been waiting there the whole time. He wants to take us by the hand and say, “My child, I have always loved you. I know you better than you know yourself. Give up the lie that anything other than my love will sustain you. Come, follow me.”

This path won’t be easy, but it will be lined with grace. All of these things that you’ve craved for your whole life, whether it be purpose or love or hope, can be found in a relationship with God.

How is God calling you today? If you close your eyes and reflect, how can you see Him working in your life to help you grow in love and selflessness?

Because of His love and redemption, you are special, worthy, and loved. Even as believers, we can struggle to remember this when our thoughts tell us otherwise. Today, are you ready to accept this incredible reality?

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:8

But whoever loves God is known by God.
1 Corinthians 8:3

My dad always used to begin his day drinking hot tea in a glass mug. Sometimes, I’d tiptoe downstairs and watch him sort through paper ads, snipping and trimming deals, calmly sipping. Then one morning – CRASH. He had chosen to drink cold soda in his glass, hot out of the dishwasher. I flew down the stairs. Bits of glass sprayed across the kitchen.

A few years later, long after the mug had been thrown away, I learned that certain artists comb the beach in search of sea glass. Sea glass originates as a useless shard of trash, but through years of physical and chemical weathering from salt water, it can become a lovely piece of frosted glass utilized by artists.

Chaos ensues whenever glass breaks. There’s usually screaming: “Be careful! How did this happen? Watch out! Bare toes!”. It’s impossible to break glass without anyone within earshot noticing. It cannot be done in a pretty or gentle way. But it can turn out beautiful.

Change is a lot like this. We often say we want to change – though grow or develop are favorable euphemisms. But change causes chaos. We must ask ourselves, “Are we willing to embrace chaos if it means we can become more like Christ?”.

Change isn’t comfy-cozy. It’s disruptive and provocative. It requires us to shed a layer of skin, becoming vulnerable and authentic. As we change, people will notice. Some like it; others don’t.

Take boundaries, for instance. Boundaries allow us to refrain from enabling others, live restful and balanced lives, and prioritize authenticity over pleasing people and avoiding conflict. However, the recipient of our boundaries may be surprised and disappointed when we aren’t so accommodating anymore.

Setting boundaries is actually an excellent test of whether the other person in the relationship is in it for their personal gain or because they truly care. If they suddenly don’t want to be in contact anymore, you may have to ask yourself whether they were a real friend or not. Boundaries give us the freedom to invest in healthy relationships and release the toxic ones.

Of course, we must do everything out of love, including how we set boundaries and interact with difficult people. Love isn’t always, or even often, comfortable. Jesus is love and love is radical. If it can change a man from being a killer of Christians into a renowned teacher of God’s truth and love even thousands of years after his death (ahem, Paul), then love can truly redeem the hardest of hearts. But it requires sacrifice.

You will face hard choices and be nudged out of your comfort zone when you choose to love as Jesus loves. But love is what changes everything. It reminds us of our desperate need for a Savior and it binds us together by grace.

If we aren’t willing to embrace change, then what are we even doing here? Think of your walk with Jesus as you would a friendship. When you first become friends with someone, you are strangers and can enjoy a surface-level relationship for a time. But if you only maintain this level of friendship, you’ll never feel satisfied or known, or most of all, loved.

As we get to know Jesus, His love for us will fill our hearts and overflow out of us. This love can change us no matter how far gone we feel and impact others who are hurting and broken.

Today, I challenge you to ask God how He wants you to grow. He will give you the strength to embrace positive change when you ask for His help. You aren’t meant to do this alone, and thankfully, you don’t have to. God’s Spirit dwells within you, ready to comfort you and inspire you to become more like Christ.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17

Tag: christianity

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