As a young Christian, I’ve realized (and I’m sure you have too) that sometimes living for God gets tough. We see people who seem to have it all together and never do any wrong and sometimes that may make us feel like we’re less of a Christian or have a bar set so high that we think we will never reach it. I’m here to tell you that although living for God may be hard at first, things do get easier. As you progress and continue to grow in your relationship with God, here are a few things that I’ve learned that you should stop doing to yourself:
1. Stop comparing your walk to others.
It’s easy to become discouraged when you see people who seem to “spiritually excel” and you feel like your relationship with God isn’t nearly the same as theirs. They may be better at prayer or fast regularly or know more about the Bible than you do. That’s all fine and dandy but the key thing to focus on is, “YOUR relationship with God.” The reality of the situation is that there will always be people who are spiritually further along than you are and spiritually farther behind than you are. It doesn’t matter. As Christians, we’re all running the same race; we just joined in at different times. You just focus on YOUR pace and YOUR relationship God.
2. Stop hiding your struggles and/or keeping your struggles private.
Killing your flesh and changing old habits is a process, so don’t think that you’re going to be “super saved” overnight. If there are things that you struggle with, go to someone who you feel is more spiritually mature than you and share what you’re going through. We were not meant to go through this walk alone. They may be able to pray with you or give you some scripture and words of encouragement. Additionally, the person you share it with may have experienced the same thing and could provide ways or suggestions to overcome it. But whatever you do, please DON’T BE SILENT. That is what the devil wants you to do because it keeps you crippled and stifles your spiritual growth. Transparency is key.
3. Stop giving up every time you make a mistake or have a relapse.
The truth is that you will make mistakes…YOU’RE HUMAN. For instance, you may have told yourself that you were not going to drink alcohol anymore. But then one night, you go out and have a drink and the next thing you know…you’re drunk on somebody’s couch. Now, because of that one slip up, you tell yourself, “Welp, I messed up this time I might as well just keep doing it.” NO! NO! Triple times NO! Don’t let yourself off that easily. As I said before, building a relationship with God is not an overnight process and God is aware of that. So just because you messed up, it does not mean to give up completely. Being a Christian doesn’t mean that you are perfect. Everything you’re good at now did not always start out easy. It takes time. Just keep in mind, Rome wasn’t built in a day. (That was the corniest cliché ever…I know LOL; but it’s true)
4. Stop putting yourself in tempting situations.
You all know how that story goes…you think that you are far enough in your spiritual walk (you’ve only been saved for 3 days and now all of sudden you’re Holy Ghost, Jr.) that you think that you can go to the bar and not have a drink or go to that guy or girl’s house and not have sex…EEENT! Wrong! It’s not happenin’ Captain! Trust me, I know! Don’t play yourself. Don’t tempt yourself as a means to test your growth…that is self-sabotage. God will test you when He sees fit.
5. Stop taking advantage of God’s grace.
Don’t deliberately do things that you know are wrong and think it’s okay because you can ask for forgiveness and God will forgive you. God provides grace but He also wants to see growth. To knowingly and willingly continue to do those things shows a lack of growth, maturity, and commitment; all of which are necessary in building your relationship with God.
As I said before, the process will get easier as time progresses. However, if you keep giving up when it gets tough you will never have a place to grow from. I hope these lessons I learned will help you as well. Continue to hang in there and don’t give up!
