THE RELIGIOUS LIMITATIONS WE SET FOR OUR LIVES

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not meant to be an aspect of your theology and life. The gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to become your life as a believer. We so often narrow it down to this little category of our lives, and that is what places limitations on our faith. Non-believers look at Christians and think they are boxing in their lives, and live in a limited space. They think if they go down that road they will live a small, insignificant and very limited existence. I know I did before coming to my faith. That is because they have oftentimes viewed a Christian life that is limited. They have personally experienced a believer who has boxed themselves in with their religious mindset and more importantly, their behavior.

But the gospel of Jesus doesn’t work that way. In fact, I’m fairly certain the gospel of Jesus contradicted the religious persecutors and “law-holders” consistently throughout its message. The gospel of Jesus Christ touches every aspect of your life, both big and little, and radically alters your potential and identity. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like a boxed-in existence to me. The gospel of Jesus infuses new meaning into your life daily. There’s nothing limited or boring about that.

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” -Matthew 19:26

This fear of walking out a meaningless and useless existence molds us into something we are not. For example, we see influencers on social media with a huge following. They’re gathering attention, likes, and making an imprint on the social media world. We are drawn to that, our flesh craves it, and we begin to shape our lives as we see they’ve shaped theirs. I believe that to be a specific approach the enemy uses to passively manipulate us and pull us away from who we truly were created to be… Authentic. Rather than using Instagram as the window through which you view your life and measure your worth against, we need to be using the lenses of the work that Jesus did on our behalf when he took the cross and endured indescribable suffering.

We all have different lenses we view our lives through. This lens of social media comparison is just one, in particular, I have seen a lot of lately. I recognize the struggle because I’ve been tempted through our Instagram account. I am constantly having to re-surrender our Lavender & Lemons Instagram and blog to the Lord for Him to have His way with. I am continuously having to reconsider the state of my heart and the heart of what we originally intended this social media influence to be. It’s so critical to stop, examine the direction of your thoughts and life, and go back to the heart of it with God. It’s crucial to take our hands off the wheel and be willing to listen if The Lord directs us in a different direction than we were headed. I can’t promise you being a Christian and following Jesus will solve all your problems and make all your dreams comes true. What I can promise you is a life full of promise and blessings beyond your wildest dreams. I can promise a God who is close and relentless in His mercy and love. The life, freedom, peace, and abundance that comes from that is anything but restricted.