It’s Personal
January 18, 2024
Faith
January 18, 2024
Faith
How many times have you heard another person say about their relationship with Jesus, “It’s personal”? What does that mean exactly? In the past that statement held no charge with me; I really could not care less. That was okay when I wasn’t an ardent follower of Jesus, my perspective and opinions have since changed. We are called to be righteous, not self-righteous, to spread the good news, to become fisher of people, to pray and worship, all of which require the opposite of keeping Jesus to ourselves. Keeping Jesus personal and locked away is selfish; His charge to us is to spread the Good News. So how can you be a Follower and NOT talk about Jesus?
Fear? Guilt or Shame? Pride or Ego? Or is it a combination of all these things? I posit that it’s a combination of the three, led by fear and followed by guilt and wrapped up with a bow of pride. As humans fear leads us by the nose most of the time without our knowing. When was the last time you laid hands on a friend and offered prayer? When is that last time you asked someone about their relationship with Jesus? What do you think would happen if you did? For me, before my walk started with Jesus, I had no idea what would happen because I was scared to death of what the other person may think. I certainly wouldn’t want to be labeled as a ‘Bible Thumper’ or a ‘Holy Roller’. Fear is so powerful, think of all the things fear has kept you from in your life, not in the last 30 days; your whole life.
We rarely challenge our fears, since I was a young adult, I made a pact with myself to never be ruled by fear. Not because it’s a tool of Satan, I simply didn’t want to be seen as weak. By my 40th birthday I had conquered all my known fears except for heights. I was scared to even challenge that fear at times, although other times I would find myself pushing the limits of what I was comfortable with. This comfort level would rarely exceed walking within fifteen feet of a window in a building over 12 stories. Fight, flight or freeze. First, I freeze then I fly in the opposite direction, getting as far away from my impending doom as humanly possible.
The BC (Before Christ) version of fear keeps us from living, unable to expand our life into new possibilities. BC fear takes His will and turns it into our will. I’m not talking about fear of heights, spiders or planes; I’m talking about fear of the unknown. My relationship with the trinity was non-existent, yet I’d never tell you that. I’d tell you that it was personal that we have our own special relationship and I’m unwilling to share that with you. The reality was, I had no relationship, but my fear wouldn’t let me tell you that. Imagine for a moment the potential thoughts of judgement that may or may not be going through the other persons head as you utter the words, “I have no relationship with Jesus.”
There is an inherent risk of judgement in being honest, vulnerable and full of humility. However, as a follower of Christ we recognize that only God is our judge. James 4:12 says, “12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?” We go straight to freeze when we fear what another person might think. How many times have you not done something for fear of another person’s thoughts? For me, countless. How, as humans, can we let the fear of someone else’s thoughts have so much hold over us? Where is our humility if we are stuck in fear of judgement? How can we be vulnerable or honest when we are trapped in fear? The flesh is weak, and when we empower the flesh, we weaken His Spirit in us.
Following Jesus is a bold choice and throws caution to the wind as we embrace His will for us. We welcome judgement seeing it as an opportunity to find strength in our weakness. 2 Corinthians 12 9:11, “9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 11I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. 12
God’s purpose for us is to spread the good news, to bring the gospel to the downtrodden, the non-believers and to disciple them to Christ; to serve him. To disciple is to teach through discipline, putting Christ first in every conversation. His light so bright extinguishes the darkness inside us; fear keeps us in sin away from the light. Darkness cannot exist in His light, ever. If you believe in and pray to Jesus and are keeping your relationship personal, aren’t you dimming His light inside you? How can we spread the good news if we are too scared to even mention His name, Jesus. How can we glorify him if we only meet him in silent prayer?
We can’t do any of these things with a personal relationship with Jesus. We are shielding His Spirit in us from those around us. His Spirit is contagious infecting and affecting the lives of billions of people who have surrendered to His will. In surrender we renunciate the trappings of this world, the sin living all around us no longer has a power over us. Selfish desire slips away, fear of judgement becomes a gift of righteousness lighting the way to the narrow path. The one true judge, our God above empowers us through His Spirit in us igniting his gifts within. They are Holy gifts that only God can provide and what a disservice to God if I kept those all to myself. God blessed me with the gift of communication and human connection that translates to leadership and empowering those around me. Discipleship.
The devil is in the details comes to mind; in fact, he lives in the most infinitesimal details whispering negative thoughts, justifications and self-righteousness keeping us weak and unable to find our strength. Notice the difference? Satan in our weakness keeps us there, stuck and unable to move. Frozen. Unable to take a risk for fear of another person’s thoughts, we prefer living in our own thoughts where we are safe and in control. Our control is an illusion, it’s chaos in a box we call our mind. Where is the freedom within control? Where is the freedom in not doing something out of fear? Where is the freedom in keeping your relationship with Jesus all to yourself?
Freedom isn’t free. The price of admission is eternal servitude which doesn’t sound like freedom at all. In fact, that sounds downright scary. We must become weak to become strong, praying to a God we can’t see, hear or touch. Laying our lives down to him in obedience and living through His son Jesus Christ. Half the population, maybe more, may read that sentence and cry insanity. History has taught us that the flesh will do anything for freedom, wars of information, deception and artillery have been fought for millennia; to what end? Fleshy freedom does nothing for us in renunciation, only providing more opportunity for Satan to find his way into our lives. Freedom of the Spirit, however, delivers order to the chaos of this world. His freedom removes fear, shame and pride, opening the opportunity for us to live and to help those around us, His sheep to live as well. We are here to serve God and we can’t do that if, “it’s personal”.
Be bold, don’t let a silent thought in a person’s head trap you in fear. You have been given the gift of life and through Him the ability to give others life, to live in every moment. Being present to His glory and grace and praising Him for the opportunity to be humiliated and judged in your vulnerability. Through our weakness we find our strength. It’s not personal.
