Being a Christian can sure
feel like an uphill fight all the way. When you think about all that Jesus said
and you try to actually apply it to your life, it’s really tough. Why? Because
it doesn’t come naturally. So much of what He taught goes against the grain of
our nature as human beings. Look at the list below and ask yourself if what
Jesus said in the following verses comes naturally to you.
Love your enemies.
Do good to those who hate you.
Bless
those who curse you.
Pray for
those who mistreat you.
Whoever
hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also.
Whoever
takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either.
Give to
everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand
it back.
Lend,
expecting nothing in return.[1]
Go into
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.[2]
He said other things that
are hard to live, too.
Do not
store up for yourselves treasures on earth.[3]
Go and
sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven; and come, follow Me.[4]
Be on your
guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the
abundance of his possessions.[5]
Jesus said these things
(and a lot more), and He expects us to actually do them. That’s the
kicker. He really meant that you are supposed to do these things. And
they’re hard!
Obviously, if you are going
to be a follower of Jesus, it’s going to cost you.
Why would anyone be willing
to follow Him, considering how hard it is? There are a lot of good reasons, but
I’ll mention just two.
(1) Because the man who
said these things is God.
Here was Jesus, the Word of
God, the expression of the Father, walking the earth saying these things. If He
was expressing God’s thoughts, if He was articulating the way God thinks about
things, if He was telling mankind what God thought was important, or which of man’s
actions or attitudes were valuable to God, then it’s a good idea to seriously
consider trying to do what He said—even if it’s hard.
I’m pretty sure He knew
that living what He said and following Him would be hard, because He was also
human and underwent all the temptations we do. But He said what He said anyway.
He had to know that a lot
of what He asked of us as disciples would go against natural human instinct.
Humans tend to be proud; if someone hits us or steals from us or takes
advantage of us in business, we often feel like retaliating in some way. We’re
often selfish, or at least self-serving, by nature. Because it’s natural to be
that way, it’s difficult not to be.
Yet Jesus was clearly
trying to show that He expected us to act in ways that don’t conform to our
human nature. I’d say He was intentionally challenging us by giving us a
glimpse of how He wants us to be. After all, He did say, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.”[6] So there was some expectation that
we would try to do just that—even if it’s hard.
(2) The second reason is a
little less noble than doing it because God Himself said it, and that is,
“What’s in it for me?”
That’s a fair question,
isn’t it? I mean, being a Christian is hard, right? If I’m going to do those
things, surely there should be some compensation in return.
Well, Jesus is fair; He’s
not offering a something-for-nothing deal. So let’s take a look at the package.
First, you’ve got eternal
life, and that’s major. Knowing that you will live forever is an important part
of the package. You’ve got to think long-term—very long-term. It’s wise to not
only make do for now, but also to put something forward for then. And then
is a very long time. When you’re thinking about what you’re going to get, you
want to look forward to the future, to invest now for then.
It’s pretty clear in
Scripture that there are rewards given in the afterlife that are connected to
how we lead our temporal lives.
Revelation
22:12 says, Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give
to everyone according to what he has done (NIV).
Colossians 3:23–24: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving (NIV).
1 Corinthians
3:11–14 says, For no one can lay any foundation
other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on
this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work
will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will
be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.
If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward (NIV).
Luke 6:22–23: Blessed
are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their
company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of
man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward
is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets (KJV).
Matthew 16:27
says, For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His
angels, and then He will reward each according to his works (NKJV).
Besides rewards in the
afterlife, God rewards us in this life as well.
Mark 10:28–30:
Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who
has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms,
for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times
as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and
children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal
life (NASB).
Matthew 6:3–4:
When you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right
hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who
sees in secret will Himself reward you openly (NKJV).
Jesus clearly states that we
should build up treasure in heaven.
Matthew 6:20
says, Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal (NASB).
There’s a clear case made
in the Scriptures that we will be rewarded, both in this life and the next, for
doing the things that Jesus said we should do—even though they are hard.
Perhaps the fact that they are so hard has something to do with why we
are rewarded by God for doing them.
So two reasons for doing
these tough things are that God said we should do them, and that we will be
rewarded for doing them—both now and later. Let’s look at the later rewards for
a minute.
He says that we have the
means of laying up treasure in heaven. That’s like investing in the future—making
right decisions now that will make our future better. Perhaps it’s a bit like
putting money in the bank.
What I’m about to say might
sound money-minded, but I think it helps to make the point.
Imagine that for every time
you showed love or kindness to someone, 100 euros was deposited in your bank
account. Or that every time you witnessed to someone, 500 euros were banked.
What if you loaned someone money and didn’t expect it back, but you received
double the money in your account? Or if every time you turned the other cheek,
a check was deposited?
If that happened, then
doing what Jesus said wouldn’t seem so hard, would it?
We’re going to live
forever. It’s wise to invest in the future.—Even if it’s hard.