It’s easy to confuse church with a self-help program.
Small group time can start to look like group therapy.
Talk about your feelings.
Be authentic.
Develop accountability.
You can change. Get back up. Don’t give up.
We’re behind you 100%.
We love you.
You even feel better after you leave church. You’re not as afraid. You’re not as worried. Your walk is a little bit lighter.
You tell yourself you can last until next week.
You do it over and over again until eventually you die and meet Jesus when you won’t have worries and anxiety any more and all will be well.
It’s all about your comfort, after all.
It’s about developing your necessary coping mechanisms to be stronger.
And it makes me sick.
No wonder people burn out on small group. No wonder they stop coming.
Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that you could learn to get over your worry.
Jesus didn’t lay down his life so that you could feel better about yourself.
Listen to what Paul says in Romans 13:11 “Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep”.
It’s time to wake up Christian!
Christ didn’t die so that your portfolio would be more secure, although trusting him may help your portfolio.
He didn’t die so that your relationships would be happier, though doing what He says will inevitably heal your relationships.
He didn’t die to make sure your wish list prayer requests got answered, although He is a God who delights in answering his children.
No – Christ didn’t die to make you god.
Christ died to set you free.
He died to give you new life.
He died to infuse life and freedom into your very core.
The Christian life is not about getting better; it’s about being different.
It’s not about trying harder, it’s about letting go.
It’s not about living better, it’s about dying to self.
It’s not about me, me, me. It’s about Him, Him, Him.
It’s time to wake up, Christian.
It’s time to remember that there’s a world out there that’s dying.
So get better – but do it so that you can help others get better.
And stand up again – because there’s someone waiting to lean on you.
And smile, and find joy, and lighten up, and stop worrying, because others need to see it.
And when you live like you’re free, they can’t help but see:
Jesus is alive, and He died to set you free.
That’s not self help. It’s eternal life.
It’s not self actualization. It’s total transformation.
It’s not up and down, one step forward two steps back Christianity. It’s living in daily victory. It’s freedom.
It’s Jesus.
Do you have it?
Amen!!
preach it sister child! preach it!
progress not perfection
But progress with a purpose beyond feeling good about myself, right!
Amen!!!
Great post!
Guilty!! Time to stop hitting the snooze and wake up to new life in Christ!
The best part: new day, new mercies, fresh starts. Thx for your honesty!
No God in a Box, No flipping the box over my Head, lets get out of our box, let His light Shine. So right, so many, so close, so need Jesus. Amen.
Awesome Truth!!!
How quickly we forget that it’s about Jesus! His Glory, His Kingdom, His Will.
Amen indeed!!
Hello, my name is Susan and I am a Christian
This is exactly what I needed to hear today. Thank you for speaking truth into my life!
Amen and amen!! We just heard David Platt at Moody’s Founder’s Week….to LIVE is Christ and to DIE is gain….we need to die to self! I’m praying that will be our new conversations and daily goals within our Christian communities.