Are you striving for holiness and good things yet to find yourself feeling exhausted?
Let me first congratulate you...you are striving!!! I think the easiest thing to do in this life is to just conform to what is around you. To take the easy way out.
Most of us seek out God's Word by attending church, studies or just reading it. We learn these truths that lead to life. Our pastors instruct us with useful habits and biblical ways of growing our faith. Friends will suggest helpful tips to raise our children. Magazines articles, pinterest and blog posts will overload our brain with ideas of everything from how to be a more financial savvy cook to time management skills for the 834 jobs in your life. It's completely overwhelming, right?!?!
My intentions of being the most Godly wife, mom and woman I can be can lead me actually farther from Christ. It's when I become so concerned with myself...so self-involved that I stop seeking Christ.
God's word says apart from Him we can do nothing.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
So in actuality when we worry ourselves so severely with doing all of the right things, it is leading us away from the BEST thing. And it is making those right things impossible for us to grasp. We cannot reach our goals and create these character traits we so badly long to have without seeking Christ above all. I know this. It's something I've been taught for a long time. But to keep myself on that path is tricky. Life gets busy and I get anxious because I'm not meeting up to the expectations I've put on myself. I was feeling this way the other day. Stressed with the many to dos, the failings of the week piling up as well as my dirty laundry. I so badly want to glorify God and be the best for those around me. I felt like I was striving to reach the impossible at that moment in the car. With my baby crying and my head swirling, I felt so exhausted. Then I heard a line in Matt Maher's song, "Lord, I need you" that brought me back to the truth I know.
It goes...
"where you are, Lord I'm free, holiness is Christ in me"
"holiness is Christ in me". That is it. I can only achieve holiness because of the life and work Christ did on the cross. It is His work in my heart that changes me. I can strive and strive, with only being left disappointed in my progress. Meeting with Him and heavily depending on Him daily is how we build ourselves into more holy people. Just like the verse in John 15, we can be striving in many ways, but if we are leaving Him out of the equation, the striving is in vain.
Don't let yourself fall into this rut. Seek Christ through His word, pray throughout your day and trust in Him for your holiness. Don't give up or keep striving for all those good things, just make sure you are doing it through HIM. I keep repeating this to myself...
holiness is Christ in me
holiness is Christ in me
holiness is Christ in me
Praise God I do not have to do it all alone.
Let me first congratulate you...you are striving!!! I think the easiest thing to do in this life is to just conform to what is around you. To take the easy way out.
Most of us seek out God's Word by attending church, studies or just reading it. We learn these truths that lead to life. Our pastors instruct us with useful habits and biblical ways of growing our faith. Friends will suggest helpful tips to raise our children. Magazines articles, pinterest and blog posts will overload our brain with ideas of everything from how to be a more financial savvy cook to time management skills for the 834 jobs in your life. It's completely overwhelming, right?!?!
My intentions of being the most Godly wife, mom and woman I can be can lead me actually farther from Christ. It's when I become so concerned with myself...so self-involved that I stop seeking Christ.
God's word says apart from Him we can do nothing.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
So in actuality when we worry ourselves so severely with doing all of the right things, it is leading us away from the BEST thing. And it is making those right things impossible for us to grasp. We cannot reach our goals and create these character traits we so badly long to have without seeking Christ above all. I know this. It's something I've been taught for a long time. But to keep myself on that path is tricky. Life gets busy and I get anxious because I'm not meeting up to the expectations I've put on myself. I was feeling this way the other day. Stressed with the many to dos, the failings of the week piling up as well as my dirty laundry. I so badly want to glorify God and be the best for those around me. I felt like I was striving to reach the impossible at that moment in the car. With my baby crying and my head swirling, I felt so exhausted. Then I heard a line in Matt Maher's song, "Lord, I need you" that brought me back to the truth I know.
It goes...
"where you are, Lord I'm free, holiness is Christ in me"
"holiness is Christ in me". That is it. I can only achieve holiness because of the life and work Christ did on the cross. It is His work in my heart that changes me. I can strive and strive, with only being left disappointed in my progress. Meeting with Him and heavily depending on Him daily is how we build ourselves into more holy people. Just like the verse in John 15, we can be striving in many ways, but if we are leaving Him out of the equation, the striving is in vain.
Don't let yourself fall into this rut. Seek Christ through His word, pray throughout your day and trust in Him for your holiness. Don't give up or keep striving for all those good things, just make sure you are doing it through HIM. I keep repeating this to myself...
holiness is Christ in me
holiness is Christ in me
holiness is Christ in me
Praise God I do not have to do it all alone.
1 comments:
Beautiful post!
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