"christianity should not be hard"

“Christianity should not be hard.”

My very pregnant self had found a comfy spot on our couch early this morning in an effort to get a couple extra minutes of sleep when I heard these words above. Joyce Meyer was preaching and teaching on living a simple life. Context speaks volumes about what a sentence means so it’s not really fair to pull this one sentence out.

But it’s so unequivocally false.

Following Christ is difficult. Especially when I’m called to die to my selfish-me-first desires. And not just once in my life, but every moment of every day. Because they have a way of creeping back in. It’s difficult when I’d prefer to worship security and safety instead of taking a scary risk to be in relationship with people unlike me. It’s difficult when I’d rather lull myself into the wonderful notion that I’ve got the Christian life figured out instead of letting God into the deepest, darkest places of myself where I still call the shots.

Christianity is hard.

But like most things with Jesus, it holds that difficulty in tension with this profound, amazing and beautiful call to love and serve others. And that’s where the real life is. Yes it may be difficult. Other times it’s surprisingly easy and simple.

Let us acknowledge our journey with Christ is difficult and one of great joy. Because then we can truly welcome God into our lives in ways that will forever change us.