You may think that living the Christian life is either extremely boring, or nearly impossible. Waves of guilt and shame combine with a constant feeling of inadequacy to create a life of judgement and self-condemnation. At every turn, you encounter another reason that you don’t measure up or need to be doing more. You obsess on what you see as your failures and think that this mental self-mutilation will somehow make a difference next time. You heart lays bleeding and torn after you’ve beaten yourself with all the messages you have received throughout life from those who have done you wrong. Comparison and self-righteousness hasn’t provided any relief, and you just want something real. Yuck!
I hope, in the pages to come, to show you the contrast of this outlook with the life I believe Jesus intended us to live when He died for us in the in the first place: a life of joy and overflowing love that fills us up with acceptance and belonging. That acceptance and belonging then spill over to those around us as mercy and grace pouring out over every step.
The Christian life doesn’t require us to do more or be more; rather, it provides an exchange of our junk for God’s perfection, strength and peace that allows us to live in a completely differently. This life is about rest, not more striving. It is about love and belonging, not more rejection. It is about being able to live in the impossible while accessing the strength of the God of the universe to move forward. It is about living in the faith of Jesus, rather than condemning ourselves for not being able to drum up enough faith on our own.
God created us for relationship, first with Himself and then with other people. But these relationships often bring trouble as pain and discouragement result from their messiness. Relationship, in its proper place, provides the foundation for living. The order must be right, though, for us to enjoy it. Relationship with God is the basis for love, acceptance, rest, peace, joy, and everything else we need to live. Relationship with humans can be wonderful, but it must follow a relationship with God in order for us not to be mangled and torn up by the crazy humans we encounter through life.
