Should Loving Jesus Change my Life (122)

I have a question for you all.

Should loving Jesus change your life?

That seems like a simple enough question right? Of course loving Jesus should change your life. But do you really believe that? If you took a survey of people that spend time with you in an average week, would they know that you love Jesus? Now, im talking about if your facebook friends or your followers on twitter know that you love Jesus. Im asking if the people who interact with you face to face know that you love Jesus.

If you love Jesus it should change your life. If you love Jesus loving what the world loves should make you uncomfortable. Lets just clarify something real fast. When I say that loving Jesus should change your life, im not saying that you should cover your car in Christian bumper stickers, see how many WWJD bracelets you can fit on one arm, or hand out your used church bulletins to everyone you meet. When I say that loving Jesus should change your life, Im saying that it should change your inner life. Loving God should change your heart. It should make you seem different, but not, ‘that guy is WEIRD’ different, but more like, ‘I wish I could be like that’ different.

Ya know what’s really cool about letting Jesus change your life? When you let Him transform you, through the reading of His Word and prayer, the outside changes happen automatically. Sometimes you might not even realize that the change is taking place. Just like when someone walks away from Christianity. They don’t just wake up one day and say, “I think I’ll ruin my life today.” It’s a slow gradual change that many times they don’t even realize is happening.

My challenge for you today is to get lost in God’s love for you. Let Jesus change your life from the inside out.

Today’s Blessing:

Because Im waiting for God’s timing in many areas, this has allowed my love for Him to deepen.

-Christy

Loving MY Jesus Comes First. (114)

Have you ever been friends with someone just because all your friends thought that they were cool? Or have you ever been interested in or known a lot about someone or something because everyone else was?

That’s how I was with Jesus until He got a hold of my life and I decided to claim Him as my own. Like I’ve said thousands of time before I grew up in a Christian home. I got saved when I was little but the salvation I had then, really wasn’t just my own. I was piggy-backing off of my parents and teachers and friends. I knew all the right answers, I had the dress code down pat, I even made good grades, but the Jesus I loved and knew a lot about was this far off person that lived in heaven- He wasn’t MY Jesus. I fear that that’s what happens with a lot of young people that grow up in Christian homes. I don’t blame the parents for this I don’t really even blame pastors and youth leaders. This blame falls entirely on the kids that pretend that knowing all the answers and being good, is enough to have a personal relationship with Jesus. I wish I could jump up on the chairs at Christian schools and plead with the teens to make Jesus theirs! When I started reading the Bible on my own and praying that the Lord would show me something cool, He always did. It made the scriptures come alive. As a matter of fact, everything else started to make more sense. Obeying my parents didn’t seem to be a hassle anymore. Serving didn’t seem to be all about me anymore. Everything is all about Jesus.

This is actually something that I still struggle with. You see, I’ve always been one of those people that if you give them a list of things that need to get done, or point out an attitude that needs to change then they will do everything in THEIR power to get it done. It was easy for me to do the right thing and have the right attitude but if I was tired or focusing on something else then it was easy to go back to being self-centered. That’s where the thing that should be easy gets hard.

Loving Jesus comes first.

That’s it! That is the principle thing! If you love Jesus most of all, then the right attitudes are just going to come as a byproduct. It doesn’t matter if I haven’t slept good in days, it doesn’t matter if ever muscle in my body is hurting, and it doesn’t matter if I just ‘don’t feel like being spiritual’. Loving Jesus and showing His love to others is the  most important thing. Period.

I’ve actually started doing something different whenever I hear about a ‘hero of the faith’ or exceptionally godly person. Instead of taking notes and then trying to force those actions on myself, I just pray that the Lord would make me love Him more. So far doing things this way takes all the pressure off of being the perfect little Christian girl and makes me want to love and serve others without thinking twice.

Im excited to see how the Lord will continue to mold me into a woman that loves Him most.

Today’s Blessing:

1. Loving my Jesus.

-Christy