Christianity: Gain, not Loss by Sawyer Lake
No later than a week into my freshman year, obedience to the truths of the God-breathed Bible. While Jesus
I heard the misconception; a misconception based in unfamiliarity. When new friends inquired about my life, I shared with them my foundation of faith. Initial remarks from most were, “props to you” and “I couldn’t do that.” Further conversation only substantiated what I feared—hesitancy toward Christianity stemming from the idea that one must abstain from a number of things to become a Christian. To many, the thought of giving up habits, activities, or words ingrained in day-to-day life is so daunting that it leads some to simply think it’s not for them, or that it’s too laborious. Attention is centered on loss, not gain. I understand the reluctance. But while certain aspects of life will undoubtedly change when one begins to live their life as a Christian, they will gain the greatest joy. In my early teens and throughout high school, I was hesitant about devoting myself to something greater, God’s will. I grew up in a Christian home and thought God was just someone I could rely on and trust whenever I faced difficult circumstances. I wanted to continue living a life stained by vulgarities, lust, broken relationships, and conceit. But little did I know, the greatest joy came from putting God at the center of my life. By submitting my life to him, I began loving and caring for others in ways I never had. This, of course, was not by my own doing. I had always cared for those other than myself, but I noticed a greater willingness to serve and help, however I could. No sense of obligation or self-glorification stirred this within me, but a genuine eagerness to love in a way I imagine Jesus would today did. While experiencing an abundance of love and joy, Christians are also called to be obedient. Not obedience to one’s own notion of right and wrong, but obedience to the teachings of Jesus and
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was here on earth, he taught people to cast their eyes away from sinful, earthly desires and to fix their gaze consistently upon him. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”1 This truth is further expressed in Luke, one of the gospels recounting Jesus’ life, when he says to his disciples, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”2 With this call, Christians cannot cling to the world or those they love in the world. They must adhere to Jesus’ truths and be in relationship with him. Although Jesus clearly told those on earth to believe and obey what he says, it is important to understand what exactly Jesus is calling them to do. He is straightforward when he says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”3 Although it is easy for me to value and cherish grades, awards, (the little) money I make, I am called to reject temporal, earthly pleasures, trusting in God’s promises of eternal life all throughout the Bible and believing Jesus’ words to humanity. When Jesus was asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” he replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”4 When I made my faith the number one priority in my life, committing myself in love to a relationship with God, I began to see everything else fall into place. Not that I lived perfectly, but that my peace
