Faith Over Fear

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

(Philippians 3:7-11)

A couple of weeks back, I told my girlfriend of a year and so that we needed to break it off. The relationship was okay, but not God glorifying. He was not in the center and in many ways, I was a hinderance to her relationship with God. I became an idol. As a newer Christian taking this walk seriously, I understood the implications of idolatry a lot more than I had before.

I can’t be her Jesus.

Don’t tune-out on this overly used bible verse. John 3:16 says that “God so loved the World us), that He gave his one and ONLY son, so that we would not perish BUT have eternal life (emphasis obviously added).

How does this situation compare to John 3:16? For starters, I cared for her a lot. God cares for me so much more. God came down to Earth as Jesus to sacrifice himself for those whom He loved so dearly. So I sacrificed this relationship in the same way, so that she could know Him just as Jesus gave his life to know me. Whether it is sacrificing yourself physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually, it is a BRUTAL YET BEAUTIFUL RESEMBLANCE OF YOUR FAITH!

Don’t get it twisted, it’s scary. Suddenly someone who was in my long-term plans became a memory. My feelings were everywhere and I was unsure of a lot! I asked myself questions about my future, and even started to regret the decision to do it.

 As we follow Christ we will lose relationships, materials, and much more. It is necessary! James writes:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. James 1:2-4

What? Joy? There is NO joy whatsoever in trials! But, look at this!

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope- Romans 5:3-4

 So this is telling me that I should take joy in my sufferings, because it produces endurance; the endurance of my FAITH in Jesus Christ. Then, that endurance will produce character! Why? Because as my faith grows I will rely that much more, on Christ alone. My character will become more like his! And I will walk more by faith than by sight! Then it goes to say that character produces hope. Hope that in light of these momentary sufferings that when the angels come to take me to the promised land that I will stand face to face with the God of the universe and He shakes his head telling me, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” 

If we have been crucified with Christ, why do we always see the brighter side of the cross? Jesus died along with our sins and He rose giving us new lives! We are now forgiven! But do we remember what Jesus did to get to the cross? He carried it on his back, after being brutally beaten. Jesus knew that he would get hurt, He knew that he would die.

As we walk by our faith and follow Christ’s footsteps, we will have to make risky, sacrificial decisions that will sting. It sucks and it’s not fun. Nobody said that being a Christian would be easy! God so loved us that He sacrificed His Son. What is the job of a Christian? To follow Jesus! His lifestyle, His love, His EVERYTHING!

I broke it off, not because of my care for her (which is evident), but my love for Jesus! Which in fact produces a kind of care for her that promotes me to give her what she really needs: the Lord. And He is good. He promises me that nothing will separate me from His love! Neither DEATH or life! Death comes after suffering, which Jesus has conquered by defeating it through His resurrection! So if Jesus lives within us, why do we fear trials!? 

Romans 5:3-5 concludes with, because Gods love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

His love is there. It’s all around. He suffered so much just to prove the point that He loves us. We must suffer because it is promised, and it comes through the love God has given us. As for trials, WHY FEAR? There is NO FEAR IN LOVE! God will take care of us! God has promised to shape you up through the suffering and sharpen your faith! We KNOW where we are going, and we should REJOICE in our sufferings! So if we have died with a death like His, counting this life and what it offers as rubbish…do we believe that Jesus will truly give us a life as His?