Being like Jesus: being real, a guest post

Another guest blog post by one of my friends, this one on being like Jesus by being real. Written by my friend Kimmy. Check out her blog, the Smug Cloud.

 

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about Jesus in terms of being "real" is a quote that I recently heard during a study that I've been attending weekly for the past several months. It goes like this:

“Do you believe that what you believe is really real? Because if you really
believe that what you believe is real, then Christians will change the world.” Del
Tackett, the Truth Project

Do I really believe that what I believe is really real? Do I?

Because if we believe that the God of the universe really created all and really sent his son, Jesus to die on the cross for us, then wow! What a difference that should make in our lives!

If we really believe that like the song says, "Jesus loves me, this I know" how would that impact our very lives?

"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created things, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom. 8:38-39

Do you really believe that Jesus came to this earth, died on a cross, suffered anguish, all because he loves you? It's true! And, if we believe that, if we are sure that what we believe is really real, then what are we doing with it? How is it impacting our lives? How is it affecting our attitude? How is it causing us to treat others? How is it affecting how we feel about ourselves?

There are times in life that we all feel lost and alone. There are moments when we feel sorry for ourselves, get angry and feel like life is unfair. We all struggle with various things. We all have temptations, trials and sins that we have to continually give over to God. We might try to pretend that life is peachy, and that our lives are perfect. We might try to make things look squeaky clean on the outside, afraid to show the world that brokenness that exists in us, that exists in all of us, but wouldn't we do better to acknowledge it? To share our struggles and our trials and our hurts with our brothers and sisters in Christ? It's not like it should come as a surprise to anyone that we have them! After all, Jesus died for a reason.

And, if we really, truly believe that he came, that he died, that he became sin for us, that he loved us that much, wouldn't we be the first ones to acknowledge and confess and share our brokenness with those around us? Instead of pretending that we are doing A-okay on our own? Isn't that in a way saying "I don't need the sacrifice on the cross. I've got it covered."

If we really believed that what we believe is really real, how would our lives reflect it?

Would we be quicker to share God's love with those who don't know him?

Would we have a smile on our face more often than not?

Would our attitude towards our lives and our circumstances be a more positive one?

His love for us is real. His death on the cross was real. Our need for a savior is real.

Our gratitude, our thankfulness, our love for him and for others should be just as real! Our lives should reflect that belief that God is real. That he really loves us and that we truly believe it. We can't do it on our own, no matter how hard we try, we need his grace. We need his sacrifice. And, we need to believe that what we believe is really real.