What does it mean for you to be a follower? Many of us are so ready
to be leaders we forget that we must be followers first. Each day as Christians
we are faced with the same question and that is, what can I do to be Christ
like? I am not afraid to admit that I am not this perfect Christian. I struggle
a lot, but it seems that each struggle I have ends up being a lesson. It
doesn’t matter how far God seems to me, he is always making himself present in
my life. He is there when I am excited about what possibilities are in my life.
He is there when I am on my knees crying because of the bad I have been
through. I believe each day of our lives no matter what happens good or bad God
is working inside of us. Growing up I never understood religion. I mean I
understood the concept, but I didn’t really care, I was too busy being a kid. I
think even though I wasn’t a Christian as a kid God was working on me to become
like his son. I didn’t even realize it. Most of the time we struggle to do what
is right. There are plenty of times that we see it as impossible to do the
right thing. Many things can happen; it can be fear, being nervous, just not
having the will, plenty of times we doubt ourselves. Romans 7:17-21 “As it is, it is no longer
I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself
does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do
what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do,
but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do
not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that
does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right
there with me.” Every day is a struggle to be Christ
like. How will we ever be able to be like the son of God if we continue to fall
down the wrong paths? I believe it in my heart that we can’t always dwell on
what we didn’t do or what we did wrong as long as we continue to look forward,
and next time we learn from what we have done wrong. When I became a Christian
I saw a lot of people falling in front of me, but they would hide it very well.
As people we have taken it upon ourselves to pretend like everything is alright
when it is really not. I bring this up because when I was learning how to be a
Christian I realized that a lot of people hide their true selves. How was I
supposed to trust? How was I supposed to love and respect people when they were
putting on a front? Here I was struggling and they were too. I think in order
to be Christ like we need to be honest and be able to show what is really
happening in our lives. We all mess up, we all sin and there is no way around
that, so to hide it gave me this idea that these Christians we happy and
everything was amazing in their lives. It was a false world they were living
in. I thought if I wasn’t like that, how could I ever be a follower of God?
When we see the word follower what comes to mind? Does that mean I will
never lead, or maybe you think you will forever be in the back ground? For the
past couple of years I didn’t understand what it meant to follow Jesus. I
continued to live my regular life thinking I was doing things right. It wasn’t
that I did things wrong, but I wasn’t doing what God asked of me. I lived life
the way I have been my whole life. I believe this is what happens to a lot of
young Christians today. Especially ones like me that didn’t have that Christian
Brother or sister to teach them the way. Matthew 28:18-20 “Then
Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them
to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to
the very end of the age.” I can clearly see that we are lacking in the
fact that Jesus commands us to go out and disciple, and we are still failing to
do that. I am the perfect example of this. When I became a Christian and got
baptized I was then thrown to the wolves and the Devil took full advantage of
that. The truth is the Devil chewed me up and spit me out. There were so many
times were I had nobody to help me. I was wavering in faith and I was scared.
How are we supposed to be followers of Christ if we can’t even help the ones we
lead to Christian? We can’t just lead them and then leave them. The truth is
not everyone has the money or the option to go to Christian college or like I
said earlier this month not everyone grew up in a strong Christian home. I
think the best thing we can do is to step out of ourselves and reach out to
people that are struggling. I hope that one day we can help other Christians to
grow and not just be focused on ourselves and what we want in our lives. Since
I have been a Christian I did a poor job at being a follower. I can walk around
and make excuses about how I didn’t know or I didn’t understand, but I need to
take action.
Being a follower of Christ means you are willing to change or
transform yourself into something more than your flesh. It means that these
earthy treasures won’t be as important in your eyes as they once were. It means
you will stop looking at people and secretly judging them in your mind. It
means you will show mercy and compassion for ones that are struggling or going
through a rough time in their lives. It means to be Christ like. It means to
obey what God tells us to do, to go out and disciple others to Christ. I have
thought about this passage for days now. Luke 9:23-24 “Then he
said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take
up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will
lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” Every day
is a battle to live an amazing life for God. It’s these fears that stop us from
loving someone, or are insecurities that hold us back, these weaknesses that
knock us down; it’s all of these things that we need to deny in ourselves
daily. We need to pick up our cross daily. I understand that there are so many
days were we feel like nothing we do is helping or working out for the best,
but that is just our flesh wanting some type of satisfaction. I believe being a
follower means that we are willing to give up our wants and our desires for the
Kingdom. This all starts with the love inside of our hearts. I want to ask; are
you just someone that is a talker or are you someone that is willing to give up
your personal dreams to pick up your cross and follow Jesus?
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