It is
not easy to be a Christian in today’s world and I applaud all who have already
bravely chosen the more difficult path. To those who may not yet
consider themselves Christian but are still on the fence, don’t be deterred;
though the path may be more difficult, the reward exceeds all expectation and
any hardships are dimmed in the power of God’s unwavering Love. I, myself, have
recently been learning this in the experiences I have had at college. My school
was, at one time, the seventh most atheistic school in the nation, and is
taught with a very liberal structure that favors intense discussion as the key
learning instrument. It feels as if one’s beliefs are being completely
deconstructed, and then, from the ashes, one is asked to recreate their moral
and belief systems. As a result, the logistics, the science, the validity of my
faith is almost constantly called out and questioned; and I am not, by any
means, the kind of person who has all the answers. But I have been learning the
art of discussion, and even though I don’t have all the answers, and even
though there I questions that even I have, I am learning how to continue to
choose my faith.
Faith is a DAILY choice.
As a Christian,
I don’t always make the right choices, I make mistakes, I stumble, I fall. I am
not a perfect person. But, the difference is that Christ gives me the strength
to get back up again, to repent and to carry far beyond what I think I am
capable of. We are fallen in nature, even those who don’t consider themselves
Christian will tell you that there is something inherently bad in the nature of
our species; just look at the havoc we have wreaked upon the world.
Christianity asks us to, in a way, defy our nature; to love the neighbor that
we hate, to give up what we want so
that we can give someone else what they need,
to love what we cannot see, and to forgive the unforgivable. We can’t achieve
all of these standards; we will sin, there is not one person who has not
already. This is why God himself came and paid the price for us, so that
despite our sin, we can find a way to His love anyway. Jesus was sinless. But,
as we are not, it leaves us with a choice; to continue in our nature or to
choose to follow Jesus. Some days, this is a hard choice. I know I don’t always
choose the better path, because it is not always the easier path. But the more
days that I can choose to follow Jesus, the easier the choice gets. When you
choose your faith, you choose your fate.
I hope that you
will all eventually make that choice, and that those who already have will
continue to make it. I pray that you all will, and that it is an easier choice to
make for you than it was for me. I pray for encouragement for you all. Take
faith, there is so much Hope waiting for you all, God loves you so much and He
wants to be that Hope for you. I would challenge you all this week to recognize
and question what our society values; ideal appearances, what defines success,
media, even the “American Dream” itself. Don’t believe all of these social laws
that have been put onto us; we live in a society that attempts to live apart
from God. Don’t look to society to tell you what decisions to make and what
path to take for it will surely lead you astray, instead, look to God for your
guidance.
“Seek His will in all you do, and He will
direct your paths”
Proverbs 3:6
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this
world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you
think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good
and pleasing and perfect his will really is.”
Romans 12:2
“Everyday
A choice is made
Everyday
I choose my fate”
-Switchfoot “Afterlife”
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