I totally love being Christian, don’t get me wrong. I was born Christian, grew up Christian and will continue to practice Christianity until eternity. Growing in Christ fuels me to move further in life and to strive to be the best version of myself. But living the Christian life isn’t always the bee’s knees and here’s why:
1. Punching someone in the face isn’t an option.
2. Being a Christian guarantees hardship.
Jesus promised many blessings to his disciples when they dropped everything for him. (Mark 10:28:30) Jesus also warned them that they would have to deny themselves and pick up their cross every single day (Luke 9:23).
3. Drinking a whole bottle of wine is considered gluttony.
I'll be damned.
4. People think you’re happy-go-lucky 24/7.
Sometimes I’m so upset I indulge in a whole container of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream and watch "West Side Story" in my teal fuzzy pajamas all day long. Although I do not recommend this unhealthy habit, I want you to be aware that everyone has crap days. People just deal with bad days differently.
Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you. He will not permit the righteous to be moved. Psalm (55:22)
5. You realize you will never be a perfect human.
“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Recognizing faults and shortcomings every single day is a miserable feeling. Christians are called to be perfect, as our father in heaven (Matthew 5:48). Hitting a perfect zero on the sin scoreboard is practically impossible, especially when sinning is so much fun. Coming to the end of the day and realizing you’ve failed pathetically does not generate warm, fuzzy feelings. Thankfully, Christ died for all of mankind so all those retched sins could be forgiven.
6. You have to feel bad for your sins in order to repent and be forgiven.
Yes, even if that black eye you gave your best friend’s (ex-)boyfriend was well justified. He smooched that beach blonde lifeguard with the perfect tan, can you cut me some slack Jesus?
7. People are always asking you why you believe in Christianity.
“Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis
8. Our role model to look up to and follow is Christ, the only son of God (the almighty being who created the earth, moon and stars and the rest of this universe).
Good luck living up to that guy, sonny.
9. People expect you to be nice all the time.
Christians sin. We are not perfect like Christ is. We are liars, we are mean, we are back-stabbers, we are gossipers, we are ignorant, we are stubborn and we can even be downright horrible people. We will make mistakes, period. Being Christian just means that we strive to be like all-loving Christ and learn from the mistakes we make. Sometimes being kind just doesn’t happen though. Sometimes I will have a really crappy day, get so angry and want to punch someone in the face.
10. Punching someone in the face still isn’t an option.
The journey of a Christian can suck. It’s filled with temptation, anger, wonderment, agony but best of all, redemption.
