Why So Many Christians Struggle

Hello readers! I'm back...it has been extremely busy the past month or so and really is going to continue for a couple more months but I do not want to neglect this blog even tho I only have two followers. This blog is an outlet for me and I certainly haven't been using it enough lately. 

I just got back from church camp on Friday and as usual I believe I get as much from the camp experience as any of the kids we take. I hadn't got to go since 2010 and I sure did miss it! It is tiring and this year was crowded and hot but the Lord always works on me so it was a blessing. I got to see some friends I hadn't seen in a couple years and some I hadn't seen since 2010. It was great to catch up. 

I'm going to talk about some things I learned from one of the sermons I heard on Tuesday morning. The preacher covered what I had believed for quite some time. He talked about why so many Christians struggle with their commitment to church and their Christian walk and why they often leave the church all together. 

1. Many people make it about rules instead of relationship. They see it as a bunch of rules handed down by judgmental hypocrites. (that is just an excuse...what I've observed over the years is that when folks start chanting the "I feel judged" song, it is usually their own conviction screaming in their heart and mind) If you weren't feeling bad or strange or uneasy about your looks, words or actions, you wouldn't care what others think. The Christian walk is and should be about your relationship with Jesus Christ and a sovereign Holy God. Let me explain...yes, God gives a whole book of rules, commands and instructions for us to follow. But when your heart is right with Him, you WANT to please Him and follow those rules not because you must follow the letter of the law but out of love. I am a married woman. I love my husband. He treats me very well...with kindness, and caring and love. I made vows and promises to him. I conduct myself in a certain way BECAUSE of my relationship with him. I WANT TO!  So, because of my relationship with my husband, it is not a chore or difficult to keep the rules and promises between us. Get it? 

2. There's a cost. Everything in the world except salvation has a cost. Some Christians don't like to pay the price. They don't want to be committed to church or get involved or help serve in any way, obey God to receive His blessings, read their Bible, pray (until they get into trouble and then they take God off the dusty shelf and want Him to wave His magic wand like a genie in a bottle and fix it all...they have no time for God until they need Him). God tells you straight up front in His Word what it takes for salvation (free!), for blessings from him (obedience) and what happens when you disobey (chastisement). He tells you. Satan does not! He lures you with pretty packages, success, lusts of the eyes and flesh, temptation after temptation and never ever reveals the cost til it is too late. Sometimes the cost is your family, your health, a baby out of wedlock, jail time, a ruined reputation, etc. Yeah, sometimes Christians would rather not pay the price to God for a blessed and abundant life but they'd rather pay Satan and do what they want to do right when they want to do it.

3. Second-hand Christianity. Too often, people have made their Christianity based on their parents walk with God, their spouse, their friends and have never made it truly their own. They are riding on another person's coat tails. A true Christian walk, walking with the Lord must be personal. It it YOUR walk. How close you are with God depends totally on you. It doesn't depend on your parents, your spouse, your pastor or your friends. Others can pray for you. Others can encourage you to pray, read and study your Bible, attend AND serve at church but ultimately the relationship is up to you. How sweet of a relationship do you want to have with the Lord? You are as close with God as you want to be right now. He is ALWAYS  there and ready. So, it is up to you and you alone. Closeness in any relationship cannot be forced. No matter how hard one may try. God desires to be close with each one of us. He is our heavenly parent, the ultimate parent. He only wants what is best...even when we don't see it or understand it. So, the closeness is not because God doesn't want it; it is because YOU don't. The better you know someone the closer you are to them. The best way to know God is to get in His Word and see what He says and desires. It really is simple. It is all about the heart and the relationship you want to have.