It’s a struggle for many of us to live the Christian life like we should. If we are to be obedient and respectful to what Christ did on the cross, it will change everything about us. Jesus stayed very plainly and openly that He requires taking up our cross, denying sin in our lives, living different than a pagan culture, loving God with our whole being, loving others in peace, calmness, charity, and generosity. The idols of comfort, passion, and self sufficiency loom like giants of destruction to the Christ follower’s call to dependence and self sacrifice. It’s easy to act like we have it all together on the surface but if a go pro camera we’re attached to me, I’m not sure the evidence would match my profession.
Questions to consider:
How does living in comfort interfere with following Christ?
How has the cross completely changed your identity?
Why is it that so many believers are struggling to live victorious lives? Because they are leaving the cross at the benediction. Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) He didn’t say that you are to pick up your cross and then set it back down.
This is an ongoing identification as Paul pointed out in 1 Corinthians 15:31 where he said, “I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.”
“Christ’s cross. For, whether we like it or not, we are involved. Our sins put him there. So, far from offering us flattery, the cross undermines our self-righteousness. We can stand before it only with a bowed head and a broken spirit. And there we remain until the Lord Jesus speaks to our hearts his word of pardon and acceptance, and we, gripped by his love and full of thanksgiving, go out into the world to live our lives in his service.” - John R.W. Stott, The Cross of Christ
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