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As Christians, we should be known for our devotion to God and unconditional love towards other people. Loving God and loving others is what Jesus commands us to do (Matthew 22:37-38). To do this effectively, Christ must be at the center of your life. John 13:34-35 says ” ‘A new command I give you: Love one another: As I have love you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’ ” So the question this week is Is Jesus Christ the Center of your Life?
If so, how do you keep Him there? If not, what’s stopping you from becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ? Share your thoughts.
I have proved again and again that I am a poor center of a universe whether I have allusions of ownership over it or not. Now the question becomes “If not me, then who?” I could look to another human being for that center. It is quite attractive for one to give over those kinds of things to another person. It has an element of freedom about it and comes in a myriad of expressions. It could be a spouse, or a boss or a guru of various persuasions including health coaches, life coaches, pastors, imams, or what ever. The freedom stems from the laziness that we all share in the aquiring of knowledge.
There are innate problems to this approach. While there are certainly some modicum of freedom, it isn’t really so. The freedom is bogus in most of the word”s definition. One would ultimately be bored to tears as more and more choices are lost to the mechanics of Lord Acton’s axiom. (“Absolute power corrupts absolutely”). So allowing someone else take the position of “center” is looking less like a good thing.
Must we look to the metaphysical realm then to find a satisfying balance point for our life. If the presupposition of need for this is true, then here is the only reasonable source for that point. So how do we find the right one in all the spiritual smorgasbord that confronts us. We have Pantheism, Deism, and Theism. Pantheism and Deism have the dubious balance of having the confort of a belief but the god or gods chosen do not have the rudeness of demanding any behavioral change or submission to a holy standard.
We have a few Theistic choices. Islam is one. The adherants certainly do have the satisfying challenged of doing their utmost for their god. Unfortunately, however much their clains are voiced that they are a peaceful religion, it doesn’t seem to be so in the actions of the most radical believers. Judeism is another. Does the minute of following a strict religious deontology really turn the heart of God?
We finally come to Christianity. By the word “Christianity” I mean the real o ne, not the fake one (can we call it christianism?) that has cherry-picked all the easy stuff of the other belief systems and has chosen to ignore the more difficult parts. From my 30+ years of investigation, this is the one that seems to fit with the perceptions of reality that I entertain. Are there questions and doubts? Of course there are! I just happen to have experiences with God that lead me to believe that they will be dealt with in God’s good time. Because I have a relationship with this God, I can expect answers to my questions in my conversations with Him.
So, to the question, “Is Jesus Christ the center of your life?” I would have to answer with a resoounding “YES!”. All of my other choices have been shown, at least to me, to be inadequate. I must admit to a tendency in me to stray from that center. The price of liberty is eternal vigilence (Thomas Jefferson). I will keep short accounts with God and, in so doing, keep my center on Christ.
Thanks Ian. I read another author “Theodore Dalrymple” who quoted Francis Bacon: “…It is a poor centre of a man’s actions, himself.” – Francis Bacon. (1561–1626). Essays, Civil and Moral., The Harvard Classics. 1909–14., XXIII-Of Wisdom for a Man’s Self
Did you read Dalrymple’s “Life at the Bottom”? I found that book rather profound in that the people who’s stories are accounted therein, are so similar to people that I know in the Church. Lord help us!