Daily Struggle

I think I have a pretty good grasp of how a Christian ought to live. And, if I know my heart, I really do try to live by His standards. Yet, there are occasions when, like everyone else, I fall short. There are times when I struggle. Knowing what to do, and wanting to do it are two entirely different things. There are times when I know exactly what I ought to do or say, but find it a struggle to follow through.

A few weeks ago I was on the other end of a conservation in which someone was calling to urge me to do something for which I had neither the authority nor desire to do. The conversation went something like this. “Christians ought to be able to work their differences out. We are supposed to get along, aren’t we? My father was a member of the church of Christ. I’m a Christian. I assume you are a Christian. Are you?” The implication was simple, if I didn’t do what he wanted me to do, then I wasn’t really a Christian. I probably should point out that the issue under discussion really had nothing to do with me. It was an effort to drag me into something that I had no intentions of being drug into.

Again, what I was being asked to do I had no authority to do. Even if I had had the authority to do it, I would not have done it, for what I was being asked to do I considered highly unethical. Be that as it may, my Christianity was under attack. I truly wanted to unload on the caller. I could have said some very unkind, but true things about him, but I didn’t. I simply responded to his question by saying, “I strive to be a faithful Christian every day.” Then I referred him to someone else who was in a position to respond authoritatively, and I knew would tell him exactly what I would have told him if I had the authority to do so.

By now I’m sure you have a number of questions. Who called you? What did they want you to do? Why did they question your Christianity? They are all valid questions, but it serves no real purpose to answer them. What I want you to understand is that all of us encounter situations in which our instinct is to lash out, but our Christianity prohibits doing so. As Jesus famously advocated: “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you” (Matthew 7:12).

Living our faith every day is a real challenge, and some days we all struggle. The key to success is a commitment to do what we know is right, even when instinctively we may want to do something else.