In Love With Jesus

By Ally B

I’ll admit. I used to have Christianity as an accessory in my life. Christ definitely wasn’t the first thing I thought of when I would wake up in the mornings, nor did I look to Christ to guide my life and satisfy me. I was on my agenda trying to accomplish as much as I could in trying to win the approval of others whether it be for a relationship, my parents, or to gain a better job.

It’s funny how we cling onto our past accomplishments and like to talk about them like it actually matters. Living in the “good ole days” or the “glory years”. My resume or life on paper would look pretty good: graduated college in three years, Masters degree, successful job positions, know some pretty well to do people, and have gotten to go to some cool places, and experience fun events. From the outside looking in things look pretty good. The problem is I was always searching for something that would satisfy. All those things just left me wanting something more, something that would make life worth living for…"complete me," like Jerry Maguire would say.

I’ve found what’s worth living for in Christ Jesus and Him alone. I can say with full confidence the past two years have been the best of my life. Hands down. It hasn’t been because of any worldly accomplishment. It hasn’t been because I am working the dream job. It hasn’t been because I found an amazing man. It is because I have fallen in love with Jesus. I truly do agree with Paul when he says:

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ…” –Philippians 3:7-10

Unfortunately, “we pursue pleasure in the moment and we don’t hold out for the ultimate. So we continue to sell ourselves short. Our desire for pleasure is not too great. Our desire for pleasure is too small. We settle for good, when we should wait for best.” This has played out in my life in the form of relationships. I guess you could say that is my Achilles heel. Instead of holding out for a great Godly man I have far too often settled for the attention of whoever was in front of me now. I still struggle with this some, but as I’ve focused on Christ it has been so so so much better. God has grown me, and as I am more in tune with His word I am able to stay strong in holding out for best and not settling for good.

I thank God for the time that I have had being single. I have taken the time to allow God to restore me and make me new by dealing with hurt, pain, and shame from my past. I am finally free from the things of my past that owned me. I clearly see that all the other things in my life that I thought were so great only distracted me from the love of Christ. Now when I wake up in the mornings instead of starting to think about all the things I have to get done, or worrying about a guy, I pray. I thank God for this day and ask him to use me in some way. I pray that I wouldn’t be distracted and that I would:

“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." Psalm 27:14

What do you think about when you wake up?

What do you spend most of your time thinking about? (Yourself, your job, a guy/girl, your to-do list.)

Honestly, do you have Christianity as an accessory in your life? Or do you want Jesus more than you want anything else in this life?

This is my prayer for us all: “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” –Hebrews 12:1-2