If It's Stopping You From Getting Closer to God, Part One

If it’s stopping you from getting closer to God, it needs to go

Part 1

“Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”

-1 John 2:15-17 NLT

Wow. What a handful of words all strung together to make a big blob of powerful paragraph. But really, what does this passage of Scripture mean to you? To me, it is saying, “The things of the world are not worth it. Don’t give in. Love your Father and what He has to give instead.” Pretty clear, huh?

Then why is it that we “wander off the path” and stray from our faith in order to try out new worldly things? I can tell you first hand that leaving your faith behind is not worth it. Trying out worldly things is not worth it. Yes, whatever cravings you are satisfying may seem worth it while you are doing them, but are they really worth giving up your personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

“Oh Nicole, you don’t understand. You’re being extreme. I can still do [insert worldly sinful desire] and still love God. I can still go to church and be a good Christian.”

Oh, but I DO understand, all too well. Here’s a little background for you: I grew up in a Christian family. We went to church, read the Bible, prayed before meals and before bedtime. I had a good relationship with Jesus. Then along came college. And suddenly, before I knew it, yours truly was giving in to the lie that “It’s okay to do bad things. You’re in college. This is the time of your life that it’s most acceptable to do these things. If you don’t do them now, when will you?” (P.S. I was also still attending church every once in a while.)

DO. NOT. BUY. INTO. THIS. LIE.

I don’t care if it’s college pressure, alcohol, drugs, partying, hooking up, money hungry, jealousy obsessed, etc. It is not worth it. It will never be worth it. You may have fun for a while, but in the end, it will drag you down.

That’s the funny thing about the enemy: he will entice you with all kinds of “forbiddens,” but after you’ve tried them all out, he will use your weaknesses against you. He will not feel sorry for you. No, instead, he will use guilt, shame, doubt, all against you.

But then enters the beauty of grace and mercy. Grace is “the free and unmerited favor of God.” Mercy is “compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.” (Thanks, laptop dictionary!)

God’s grace and mercy: the perfect ingredients to equal a recipe of love after repentance.

Don’t forget that God loves you regardless of what you’re doing, but it does break His heart when you do things that go against Him.

Well, this is all for now. This is just an introductory post about my topic of “If it’s stopping you from getting closer to God, it needs to go.” Hope it gives you some food for thought, and have a wonderful day/evening/life :)

Xoxo,

n.