Most people think it is easy to be a Christian, but not according to the Bible. Look at Luke 14:26: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (ESV). You can’t put anyone above God, and that includes your comfort zone which most people wouldn’t give up for God. According to Brett McCracken, “A faith that aligns perfectly with one political party is suspiciously convenient and lacks prophetic witness.” We like our politics, but according to the Bible, Jesus did not agree with politics. If we look at Matthew 19:21, Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (ESV). This man was wealthy and owned property and had a high status in the town. He told Jesus he couldn’t make that sacrifice and just left. Therefore, the sacrifice that comes with being a Christian is not for everyone.
When people look at the Bible and see “God is good” they take it literally, but it actually means that God is trying to make us more like Him. For example, McCracken said, ”Healthy faith doesn’t just celebrate you as you are, but relentlessly molds and refines you into the likeness of Christ.” God’s goal is to make us like Him, not what we want.
Source: Michael Butler
We are a more significant part of something that God can only have the capacity to handle. He is the one who created us in the first place and saw us as a good thing, but we are tempted to resist God because of sin entering the world through Adam and Eve.
God restored us by sending His Son to be tortured and put to death by us, so that we can have a choice to be with God or be separated from God. According to Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (ESV) They follow Jesus no matter how the world treats them. I don’t know if people want to do that because everyone likes to be happy and love something in this world, but we have a God who loves more than that we can explain. God wants the best for us, but it is up to us to accept, but the only way that we can get to God is through Jesus.
Source: Michael Butler
No matter what we do in this world, it won’t compete with us; only Jesus can fulfill our needs, but it is hard to live according to what He wants for you, not what you want. It is tough to be Christian because of living for a bigger purpose; it is not about you it is about God.
Also, according to the Bible, we need to take Mathew 7:21-23 seriously, which says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'” We are going to be judged by our relationship with Jesus, and by the fruit that comes from that.
