Before I became a Christian I considered my life basically great. I went to the best parties, had so many friends, and made crazy memories. The deeper I become in my faith the harder life feels. People may say “wait aren’t you supposed to have an easier life as a Christian?” To the world, it seems that way but that’s not what scripture tells us.
Matthew 7:13-14
Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy[a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
The Christian life is a hard one to live. Being a Christian takes more than just believing in God. It is an ongoing battle here on earth for us. Why? Well, the quickest answer is sin. When you don’t walk life with God our sin is non-existent..to us. What do I mean by “to us” well without God we have no idea how we should live. The media tells us “yolo” (you only live once) when we are able to do something we might regret. Not believing in God doesn’t mean that God won’t see you. Believer or not the Lord sees our sins. People think that sin is only done by those who are outside of the Kingdom but that is false. EVERYONE SINS. Let’s go back to the start of sin. The Bible says that we all fall short of the glory of God. Since the beginning even when we are just brought into this world we are sinners by nature.
Romans 3:23-25
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
I did a study once called “Developing a Godly Lifestyle” by R.C Sproul, the purpose of this study was to understand the way the Lord calls us to live. Not just how we should live for Sunday service or Bible studies but how we should live in God’s presence and under His authority every day. Sproul states it like this “in one sense, my life didn’t become complicated until I became a Christian.” You may hear Christians say this all the time because it is true. Anything that we say or do now troubles us way more than before. Others call it a conscience but we call it the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
The Holy Spirit indwells in us when we become a new creation in Christ. This is the same spirit that comes from God. How cool is that? The same spirit that lives in God is now also in us!
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
Personally, I only became a Christian in my early 20s which caused me a hard time separating myself from the life I was living before. It was hard to let go of relationships I knew that was not going to lead me into the new life I wanted to live. While others understood my transition, many felt that I was “better than them” which was the opposite. I knew that I was such a sinner that I need to be completely changed into the person Christ called me to be. As I mentioned in most of my writings, I still struggle with sin. But all Christians do. We all have times where we question “am I even a Christian because I am struggling with this” but what I have been learning is not to ask God to help me stop sinning but ask the Lord for forgiveness and seek true repentance. Ask the Lord “how can this sin bring me closer to you and glorify you by my repentance?” As the only believer in my family, I struggle with spending time with my family because I love them and being with the church. Even knowing that my church family is my eternal family. When I do share time with them I remember to be gentle, and patient and do my best to cut the attitude. It is a constant reminder to show Christ in all I do especially to people who do not believe. We want to show them that we are different in the way we react and care for others because we have Christ. I struggle with sin every day and every day does not get easier but it is possible with Christ.
The good news is that we do not need to live in sin, condemn ourselves, or be lost. We are now a new creation in Christ. Jesus came and lived a perfect life to then die on the cross for our sins and gave us so much Grace to be born again once we confess our sins and repent.
Romans 8:1-39
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
By: Belinda (IG: @belindaaolmoo and TikTok: belindar.olmo)
Belinda is a contributing writer for Bible and Hot Cocoa blog. She is currently in graduate school for Clinical Mental Heath. Bel also has a bachelors degree in English, which is such a passion of hers. She loves to share her experiences and how God’s Grace has kept her in all of the good and the bad. Belinda wants to use social media platforms to share the Gospel and how Jesus truly saves. For more content feel free to check out her Instagram: belindaaolmoo, TikTok: belindar.olmo, and my new blog site: www.belindaspeaks.blogspot.com.
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