June 16, 2021
Tearing Up My “Good” Christian Recipe Card
Barb Roose
Today’s Truth
“Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live” (Galatians 1:4 NLT).
Friend to Friend
For many years, I treated my faith like I was cooking dinner in the kitchen. Here’s what my Christian life recipe looked like for many years:
1 c. weekly church attendance
1 c. daily Bible study
1 c. volunteering (or 2 c. if pressured to do more)
1 c. Bible study group (sometimes a seasonal ingredient)
1 c. offering (or a dash if money is tight)
1 c. prayer (add more if you gossip, lie or occasionally swear)
1 c. good intentions
Directions: Mix together each week on your calendar. Substitute guilt for any missing ingredients. Pour generous amounts of worship music over the top to cover for anything that might be outdated or less than fresh. Finally, serve with a Sunday smile.
For years, I felt confident about my recipe of good Christian rules. However, in those seasons when my kids didn’t sleep at night or when I was depressed and didn’t feel like praying, my failure at executing my recipe made me feel like a “bad Christian.” At times, I feared that God was disappointed with me.
Have you ever felt like there’s a long list of rules you have to follow in order to be a “good Christian”? Perhaps you feel like you’re one mistake or sin away from God sending you a big “whammy.” Maybe you’ve followed your recipe for years and you’re simply tired of feeling like you have to keep measuring up.
The only way to straighten ourselves out is to go back and start at the core of our faith: The Gospel. Even if we’ve heard the gospel 1,000 times in our lives, we need to hear it 1,000 times more, because the gospel changes everything about our lives every single day!
In his letter to the Galatian church, the Apostle Paul begins at square one explaining the gospel, proving a concise summary at the beginning of his letter:
“Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live” (Galatians 1:4 NLT).
Every day, the gospel is the evidence to us that God wants more FOR us than FROM us. The gospel is based on God’s perfect promises, never our performance.
If you pressure yourself to do more for God, then what would it look like for you to learn how to receive from Him? Consider your personal Christian recipe card. What parts of your Christianity are driven by fear or guilt?
The good news is that you can rip up that recipe card and find freedom from the fear that God wants you to follow rules for Him. But how? The key to abandoning our Christian recipe is learning how to recognize, receive and respond to where God is working in us. When we learn how to do this, then our desire to pray or engage in Bible study flows from love rather than fear or obligation. This is what it means for us to experience freedom in Christ or a life free from fear and full of God’s joy and purpose!
I sense God saying this to me and to you: I know that you want to please Me. Yet, trying to follow the rules is breaking your heart. My daughter, you can stop trying so hard. You don’t need to stress yourself out trying to live the perfect Christian life. Accepting salvation through Christ is enough. I love you.
Are there Christian rules that you need to let go of following? Spend time today reflecting on how God’s Spirit is working in your life. Don’t forget, even when you may not feel like God is working in your life, you can be confident that He is!
Let’s Pray
God, thank You for the power of Your Holy Spirit at work within me. Thank You for the life that the Spirit brings to me. Remind me following religious rules are not what will satisfy my soul, but being in relationship with You.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
When do you worry that you are disappointing God?
Do you need to let go of trying so hard to do more for God and discover what it means to receive from God?
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©2021 by Barb Roose. All rights reserved.
Originally published Wednesday, 16 June 2021.
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