Spiritual Rollercoaster

Many Christians are unhappy with their walk with God. The complaint is an inconsistent lifestyle, not living consistently what they believe and confess. Why do we tend to believe so strongly something yet not live up to what we profess? Why do we say we should do one thing yet actually do another? Are we all charlatans? No, most of the professing Christians are fully committed to what they espouse. We are all shackled with an innate bend towards sin. We have a naturally tendency to do what God says is wrong (Romans 3:9-20, Galatians 3:22, 1 John 5:17, Deut. 9:7, Joshua 1:18). The subject of man’s sinfulness, his rebellion against God, is not the focus of this writing. It is too broad a scope for the purposes here. The focus of this writing is how to maintain a more consistent walk. Since we are human we will never have a perfect walk with God and we will stumble at times, we will sin. However, by doing a few simple things our walk can be much more consistent.

The foundation is time alone with God every day (1 Thes 5:116-17). The daily quiet time is talked about more often than many actually do it. The bible is referred to spiritual food and like our physical bodies atrophy when we don’t eat properly a life without spiritual nourishment causes weakness within. By reading God’s word everyday we learn what He wants for us in life, what we are not to do, and most importantly we learn more about God. Along with reading God’s word we need to pray to Him. Jesus demonstrated this throughout His earthly ministry, if it was important enough for Jesus how much more so for us? The apostles prayed often and all strong followers of Christ make prayer an important part of life.

Spending time with God daily instills within us the self-discipline needed to flee from temptation. Although we will continue to learn what is sinful and decide to not do that which displeases God, we will still fall to temptation. Sin is a part of life and cannot be totally avoided. As hard as we try to not sin there will be times we do. The goal is to have more and more time between sinful activities. Just as it takes discipline to not hit the snooze button in the morning it takes discipline to run from temptation. As you do so you will find it easier and easier to say no to sinful desires. The important thing to remember is this; you cannot fight temptation, it is too strong for us. The bible never says resist temptation it says to flee (1 Cor 10:13). Learn to recognize the warning signals, learn your weaknesses, and make sure you do not put yourself in situations that will lead to sin. If you find yourself in a situation that will cause you to sin, get out of it as soon as possible.

By spending time daily talking with God and reading His word, and by strengthening your self-discipline to flee temptation you will develop sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our guide and enables us to do all that God commands us. But He speaks to us softly and if we are not used to hearing Him it is easy to miss His promptings. By learning to hear the whispers of the Holy Spirit we will have a more consistent walk with the Lord and have a much more successful life, success as God determines for each of us.

These are very basic and simple things yet each point is a foundation to a strong Christian life. They are the building blocks to a life pleasing to God that will allow us to finish strong and hear from God at the end of our life “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt 25:21).