Ongoing Struggles

Nobody ever promised me life would be easy, or I'd get a rose garden for that matter. But this process of sanctification, well, that's a whole different ball game. Being conformed more into the likeness of Christ, jeez...sometimes I wonder if I'll ever graduate from being a self-centered jerk.

Thinking about the gospel and sharing it with others makes me acutely aware of ongoing struggles in my personal life. Struggles with besetting sins and lack of visible personal growth makes me wonder if I have any right to share Jesus Christ with others particularly when my life often seems such a mess.

But as I think of my current sluggishness in my faith, a light bulb went on in my head. Fortunately that happens now and again...lol! How much is my lack of energy, enthusiasm, and current malaise in my life; work, marriage, family, etc. due to my lack of going out and telling others of what God and a personal relationship with His Son can do for them. Being overly concerned with how Christ is or is not working in my own personal life has somehow caused me to take at least from a practical point of view, that Christ may not be worth talking about. This makes me guilty of self-centeredness. This is not only a devastating sin in that it makes me both ineffective in my own personal walk with God, but it also blinds me to what can be a simple and powerful remedy.

Sin and man's own desire to be the master of his own fate, dismiss God as irrelevant, and reject the offer of salvation by placing faith in Christ are the barriers that prevent sinful humans from having a personal relationship with God. These are clear fundamental orthodox principals that people need to hear for them before they can ultimately repent and be brought to faith in Christ. This is great news for those who do wish to see those outside of the household of faith actually be adopted into the family of God. I am among those who like to hear of this great news.

It has been said that, "those who can't do, teach." I don't know how measurable that is but even if it is to a great degree, one can still say what is so bad about that. A baseball hitter who knows about hitting, but can't hit worth a damn, if he can teach others how to hit, does not this give him great reward. And with that great reward does not this give him great enthusiasm and energy to share with others the fundamentals of hitting. Like I said, he still may not hit worth a lick, but is not his life now lifted to a different level and will this spill over and cause positive repercussions in many areas of his life? Just a thought.

I know as I write this much of my struggle with mid-life crap and problems that never seem to let up will continue to be front and center. Demons from the past and the ongoing struggle with being a self-centered jerk is not going away anytime soon. Still, God is. He is there and I can know him and tell others about Him. I can know Him and learn more about Him with the same passion I have with other hobbies. Even if you have no musical ability but have a passion to talk about and listen to something like jazz, will that passion not be contagious and make others who know nothing about jazz, perhaps become jazz enthusiasts because someone like you turned them on?

May a lesson like that be learned by both you and by me even when the difficulties of life and our own sins may drag us down.