Strong on the Outside, But on the Inside…
Recently, a young woman who had become Instagram famous decided to expose her empty and fake reality. She had reached what she thought was an exciting pinnacle, only to realise it felt more like a deep depressing valley and she wanted to tell others so they too didn’t fall for the lie.
She had worked so hard on her façade that when the wind of life pressed against her, she fell easily as her internal foundation was found wanting.
As Christians, when the winds of life press against us, we too can fall for slick looks and quick talk because we hope the ‘easy’ road will produce the results that only the ‘right’ road can. There is no quick way to sustainable success and the same is said for sustainable faith.
It is easy to jump conference-to-conference or altar-call to altar-call in an attempt to build our spiritual lives, and ignore simple habitual actions because they seem boring.
A trait of those with strong spiritual lives is that they don’t live on a spiritual rollercoaster. In the face of excuses and screams for attention from life, they don’t give up on their conviction.
5 things we can learn from those with strong spiritual lives:
- They are aware of their brokenness and happily admit that.
- They know only Jesus can complete them.
- They embrace the long process of character building which requires a daily submission to Christ.
- They understand that God looks at the heart, not the outward appearance.
- They put down their DIY self-help books and pick up their Bible, as they realise their spiritual growth is based on Christ reliance, not self-performance.
Don’t let Easter be the first time you’ve worked on your spiritual life since Christmas and the last time you work on it before next Christmas. Don’t let your relationship with God be a façade which you quickly polish and rearrange when church friends are coming over.
If the sum of our reality is based upon hiding our true identity, then we have missed our calling because our reality should be a reflection of our identity in Christ — strong, God-based and forever fresh.
“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colours. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought…” — James 1:2–8
