A couple of weeks ago, our High School ministry, Summit, went on a retreat. We spent time worshiping and engaging with Scripture and had fun playing games, doing skits, and even painting like Bob Ross.
The theme for this weekend was Be Real. So you claim you believe in Jesus; does your life reflect Christ? Let your faith guide your actions and be real in your faith and life.
If we want to be real in our lives and live out our faith, we must first know who we are. But before we know who we are, we need to know who God is, because He defines and describes our lives for us.
“For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.”
Colossians 1:16-17 CSB
When we look at our lives, we must first surrender to the Creator of all things. Think of the largest nation, people groups, or kingdoms throughout history: God created them all and rules over them. Even the tiniest creature we can think of, God is not only Ruler but Creator.
To know that God is the Creator of all things, including each of us, should be transformational. The same God that spoke the galaxies into existence and breathed life into Adam and Eve knit us together in our mother’s womb and set forth a plan for each of us. You matter to the Creator of the universe.
Once we know who God is, we learn that our identity and life should be entangled with who God is. He calls each of us to be “a man or woman personally made by God, in the image of God, to enjoy and exalt the glory of God.”
Once we know who God is, and who he calls us to be, we still have a choice to make: remembering Him. This Lent season is a time to remember what Christ has done for us.
Jesus was speaking to his disciples in John 14:
“Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. You know the way to where I am going.” “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
John 14:1-7 CSB
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. We must recognize the gospel work of Jesus Christ, dying on the cross and rising again, work that could have only been accomplished by God Himself.
How do you respond to the gospel in your life? Matt Chandler says in his book, Explicit Gospel:
“Jesus Christ has worked such an outrageous wonder that he demands a response… but no one hears Jesus and just says eh.”
This weekend was a call and challenge to our students to make a life-changing decision. If you believe in Jesus Christ as your savior, are you living like it? If not, be real in your faith. Live out your faith as a transformed follower of Jesus. If you aren’t being real if your faith or if your life doesn’t represent Jesus, ask yourself: do I really believe the work of Jesus on the cross?
Do I truly believe, or am I just going through the motions of a Christian and saying the words, but not believing them? How about you? Does your life reflect what you believe, or is there a disconnect that needs to be reconciled?