Two simple statements that should mark the lives of every follower of Christ are “live simply” and “give generously”. In the Western world where we find ourselves the wealthiest people in history, it can be difficult to remember the way in which we have been called to live. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is Proverbs 30:7-9 which says “Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need. Otherwise, I might have too much and deny You, saying, “Who is the Lord?” or I might have nothing and steal, profaning the name of my God.” What an amazing way to live – relying on God for daily provision, finding no pride or identity in our possessions, but rather simply trusting in God to provide.
Becoming an Intentional Disciple
Too many self-proclaimed Christians believe that maturity in Christ will happen automatically over time. They think the longer they have known Him, the more they will know about Him. None of our other relationships work this way, so why should we expect our relationship with God to be the exception? We might have the same mail delivery person for twenty years, but odds are we will never actually know them. We probably know their name and might even recognize and wave to them at the grocery store, but that is generally as deep as our relationship will ever go. Unless we make a conscious effort to understand what makes the other person tick, to share dreams and aspirations together, to help one another in a time of need – until we do those things, we can’t truly be in a relationship with them. Yet we think with God this dynamic will somehow be different. We believe that since He is God and we said a prayer to Him, our relationship will magically blossom and all will be well.
What Are You Holding Back?
To be a true follower of Christ means surrendering everything to Him. The instant we proclaim Him to be our Lord, we give up our right to call anything our own. All of our money, our time, and our possessions are now His to be used to glorify God and to further the Kingdom. Intellectually, we know this, but the translation somehow gets muddied between our heart and our actions. Instead of giving everything to Him, we have a tendency to reserve certain pockets of our lives to keep outside of His control.
Submission, Surrender and Sacrifice
Becoming a disciple of Christ requires we get comfortable with some uncomfortable words. Submission. Surrender. Sacrifice. These are not concepts that most of us gravitate towards easily. When we do inch our way closer to abiding by these principles, what is harder still is to give ourselves completely to them. We submit certain areas of our lives to God but keep others to manage ourselves. Surrender in measure is acceptable, but not in full. Sacrifice is easy as long as our limits are not pushed too far. Following Jesus is not about what we can keep or what we will gain; it’s about losing everything for the sake of His mission and His Kingdom.
Living an Authentic Life
Many desire to live authentic lives but struggle to know what that actually means. A life of authenticity is one lived true to yourself, without pretense, and in perfect alignment with who you were created to be. Sounds simple, right? It should be, but I’m confident you’d agree that it is anything but easy. To tackle this problem, we must approach it from the inside out. Working from the outside in would only breed superficiality, which is in direct conflict with living an authentic life. It all begins within, and this is where we will start.