Take a chance

The biggest struggle in the body of Christ is not sin, it is boredom. More saints are sidelined by ineffective faith than falling into some big scandal of morality. Last weekend I was preaching about the temptations Jesus struggled with in His 40 days in the desert. One of the things that I saw from the three temptations Satan throws at Him was a struggle with what it meant to be loved. When Satan took Him to the top of the temple and challenged Him to throw Himself down, thereby testing His Father's love for Him, he was hitting at the very core of faith - the question that asks "Am I really loved by God?"

I find that most Christians will tell you they know they are loved, but they don't live it. Because if we know we are loved, and there is nothing we can do about that being loved, we are free to make mistakes and live in faith and a trust that our Father's love for us is unlimited and unconditional. But when we don't trust that we are loved, we live in fear, and that fear keeps us from taking any risks - it keeps us from really living in love because we are afraid of losing that love by some wrong thing we might do or say.

When Jesus was tempted, He trusted in His Father's love, even when it didn't seem very evident. That was the only thing that made His struggle with temptation different than ours - His response to it. He trusted that He was profoundly loved even though it didn't feel like it. That trust gave Him freedom to move boldly in His ministry, even when it didn't go well. He was able to risk doing and saying things that weren't real popular because He knew there was nothing that could separate Him from His Father's love. Trusting and living in that love enabled Him to take chances.

So why don't we? Because we have this stupid thought in our heads that says we might do it wrong, we might mess things up, we might upset God. How ridiculous! If that line of thinking is floating around in your head, dare to confront it and take a risk. We say we believe in the sovereignty of God. But we live in a fear that we are so powerful that we can thwart whatever it is He wants to do. Take a chance and challenge that! Either the Bible is true, and there is nothing that can separate us from His love, or it isn't.

In which case be very, very afraid.