Why is it so hard to be a Christian?

Why is it so hard to be a Christian? by Marcelle Umar

I never really understood what it meant when people said when you “find Jesus, you find freedom”.

Being a Christian means being called to a higher standard, you have to put in extra effort to live right. Deny yourself of the “fun” stuff. Right?

That didn’t sound like freedom to me.

Now I’ve grown so much more in the word of God, my relationship with Jesus is stronger than it has ever been and I’ve never felt such freedom in my life. What I didn’t understand before, I now understand through all I’m experiencing. Nobody had to explain it to me.

An excerpt from a book helped me put the feeling into words;

“Grace is freeing, it puts the burden to perform on God, rather than on the believer. Our Job is to believe while God does the work”.

There’s so much I want to say but I don’t have all my thoughts gathered yet.

Yes, as Christians we are called to a higher standard and it might sound like a lot of work but it isn’t. God freely gives us the grace to live according to his standards.

Your job is to believe that he has given you the ability while God does the work in and through you.

Philippians 2:13 (NIV)13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

“It is God who worketh in us to will and to do”. You see, if you believe in Jesus you’ll find yourself wanting to do right. Now the bible says, that longing to do right, it’s God who can even make you feel that way.

It’s not about you “struggling” to do right, it is about the one who called you helping you to please Him by himself.

1. Why finding Jesus means you found freedom is because you no longer have to struggle to live right. When you find Jesus, he himself will work within you and put the will/craving/longing to do right. And the Bible goes ahead to say he’ll also help us do right. Philippians 2:13

2. Why finding Jesus means finding freedom; There is nothing like judgment where Grace is concerned. Judgement is literally the opposite of Grace.

Romans 8:1 (NIV) Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

In Christ Jesus, there is no judgement. God isn’t judging you for those mistakes you made because you are already in Christ Jesus. I don’t know what other kinds of freedom could be better than this. Of course, this isn’t a free pass to go about misbehaving. I hope you get the drill. You can read Grace is not a license to sin here.

There is no amount of good you could have done that would have saved you. God gave Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice because He knew our human righteousness could never cut it. Just like @bibilamour04 said, “We are saved to do good works, not by good works”.

3. Why finding Jesus means finding Freedom; You have only one Job, BELIEVE!

John 3:16 (NIV) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 1:12 (NIV) Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

No need to stress yourself with anything, just believe. Believe in Jesus and you’re automatically a child of God and have eternal life. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me 😌.

I’m Marcelle Umar, an Architect and Creative entrepreneur. I’m an expression of God’s Grace and my faith in Jesus defines my lifestyle.

You can connect with Marcelle on Twitter, here.

“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” ― C.S. Lewis