Now that I've shared how we need to learn about our identity in Christ and that we need to love it, now we're ready to move forward, right?
Right.
I know how hard it is for me personally to get things through my thick head. And believe me, this isn't just a two or three week lesson plan and then I'm all set for the rest of my life. It helps, yes. It helps me to see God's truths better, to learn from His Word more.
But I definitely haven't perfectly learned this lesson. It's an ongoing learning process with many, many ups and downs. Even right after I've learned something new, like Sunday night when I was struggling with things after an amazing lesson on Sunday morning. :( That's part of life, though. It can't all be mountaintops. The valleys are good for us (and I have to keep reminding myself of that).
Even though I haven't gotten this down pat yet, I still do want to share the next step. We can't just learn about our identity in Christ and love it--we have to live it. And that's probably the hardest part.
Like I shared last week, not receiving a gift isn't always a sign of humility--often it's a sign of pride. In order to live a fulfilled life in who we are in Christ, we have to learn to receive and embrace His amazing gift.
And it's not just a Sunday thing. It's not even just a morning quiet time or nightly devotional thing. It's something that we have to embrace every moment of every day. Living a life of surrender to God's will is a choice we make every second. It's not something that we choose to do on Sunday or during our quiet times.
"We can't compartmentalize our spiritual and physical lives. We'll never experience victorious Christian living that way. Yes, we're a new creature, but it came at a cost. Now we are completely the Lord's--His bondservants, His slaves. What people don't understand is that we're slaves, but our Master is so good. When we freely surrender everything in our life to Him, we'll find joy, fulfillment, affirmation, etc."
(Quote from my notes notebook on the Sunday School lesson my pastor taught this past Sunday)
They're not separate things (and I am sooo preaching to myself right here). God doesn't just want to be a priority in your life, as one of the preachers around here said. He wants to be preeminent. He wants to be Lord of every area of your life.
Abiding in Christ (John 15) is part of living in who we are in Him. Abiding in Christ is a daily dying to self. It's a continual consciousness of Him. It's a daily choice to stop and ask Him to fill us with His Spirit. It's a continual maintenance job--keeping a short list with God, so to speak. When He brings something to our attention that needs to be confessed or changed, deal with it right away. God doesn't fill a dirty cup, and it's our job to keep our cup--ourselves--clean for Him to fill with His Spirit.
It's so hard. Sometimes we're all the way at the end of the rope before we realize where we're at. Pride rears up, telling us that we can do it, we don't need help, we've got this. All of those modern self-help and inspirational books and speakers out there are telling us that we can do it on our own, that our focus should be on ourselves, and that we are our own most important person to care for.
The truth of it is: no, we can't do it on our own. We can't accomplish anything for God's glory without abiding in Him and relying on Him. It sounds like such a sign of weakness sometimes, being dependent on God. It's like we're incapable creatures. That's because God knows that we can't do it on our own. We'll trip and fall flat on our faces.
When we recognize that without Christ, His grace, His strength, etc. we will completely fail, we'll start looking for it. We'll get desperate for it when we realize just how much we need it. And we'll start living more consciously, more purposefully. We won't just live flippantly. We'll be cautious of the things that will quench the Holy Spirit and block the grace of God in our lives.
How do we get to that point? Honestly, I'm still learning. All I know to do is pray (a LOT) for God to show me my heart, to show me what I need to do or stop doing, to reveal to me His mighty grace and love. I know to keep walking in the light He has given me. I know to humble myself before Him and beg Him for His help. In short, all I know to do is to ask Him for His help and then take each step as He shows it to me.
And when I don't feel that I'm moving? Sure, I get discouraged. Really discouraged, sometimes. But I know that later on, even though I don't feel like anything is happening now, I'll be able to look back and see how far God has brought me.
Learning, loving, and living in my identity in Christ isn't easy most of the time. But on those good days, and in the end? Oh, it is so worth it.