The Good Life... a weblog about life, technology, and the Opera Web browser

Yeah, today was a good day.

I found a nice little neat setting last night that makes Blogger ignore line breaks. If only I could have found that before I went through and HTMLized a good number of my posts.... Oh well. :)

As part of the Bible studies I do, I'm currently reading Romans 8. I got a commentary on it the other day, Romans from the Sacra Pagina Series (ISBN: 0-8146-5808-3). It mentioned something that I've thought a lot about and that I'd like to mention: the Christian life is not easy. A lot of the time, it might sound all wonderful and grand because we have the almighty and powerful God backing us up--and don't get me wrong, it is wonderful and grand--but it isn't always that way. Let me try to explain:

In Romans 8:5-11, Paul is talking about choosing between living according to the flesh or living according to the Spirit. On this topic, the commentary says:

[L]iving according to the flesh--with its fatal consequences--is still a possibility for believers. It is a possibility but not a necessity. This is the crucial difference.... Under the regime of sin, exacerbated by the law (meaning Mosaic Law), it was impossible not to sin. In the new era of grace it is possible but not necessary. One has the freedom to say No to sin and Yes to God. There is, then, a tension in Christian life and choices have constantly to be made. But it is not the fatal tension of the old regime.... It is a constructive tension leading to growth and life.

So, you're like, well, what does that mean? Well, it basically says that people that are not Christians (not under God's grace) will sin--there is no escape. However, Christians have the choice to say No to sin, instead living a life pleasing to God. That's where it gets interesting; this choice that Christians have puts them constantly on guard. A lot of the time, this tension leads (me personally) to a sort of depression that we're (I'm) not able to live up to God's expectations. However, in saying that, I'm perpetuating a fallacy about God's expectations! God isn't sitting up there on His throne looking down at us and shaking his head as we sin. That's just not how He works. Instead, Jesus is here by our side, our constant companion and greatest advocate, reaching out his hand to help us up after we've tripped and fallen. It's not easy to get past that fallacy, or at least it isn't for me. But we have to. The tension Christians deal with is a part of this life and as the commentary says, [i]t is a constructive tension leading to growth and life.

So, what's it like to have to constantly make decisions of whether to sin or follow God? The only thing I can think of to equate it to is the decision one makes with his / her partner in mind in a relationship. When I was dating (and months after I broke up with my last girlfriend), I was constantly considering what my girlfriend would think about any given decision. It isn't important to me right now whether doing that is right or wrong, that's another discussion altogether. However, having that mentality is similar to the Christian mentality: we have to constantly consider what every decision is going to mean to God. In fact, while I was in the relationship I mentioned above, I wasn't thinking about what God would think of my decisions, merely what my girlfriend would think. In a way, I had made my girlfriend into a god, a false idol, whom I worshipped and sought approval from. No wonder the relationship didn't work out. :) So, now I'm in the process of changing my mindset not to think about what another imperfect human would think about my decision, but instead, what the perfect, righteous, omniscient God would think. Cool stuff.

To put it simply: I don't like sinning, in fact I really despise it, but I do it anyway. I am not perfect, nor do I pretend to be. Sometimes I sin while fully aware of my ability not to sin. But that's the point: I have the choice. A lot of what Christianity is about is being aware of the right and the wrong so that you can make a conscious choice. When you first start out, you make a lot of bad choices. In fact, you continue to make bad choices until the day you die. However, you learn how to make good choices, to listen for guidance, and to seek answers when you just don't know how to proceed.

What's this all mean? you ask. Well, it means that Christians have this amazing God in our lives that wants us to be our absolute best and will help us along our way. He doesn't get angry at the number of mistakes we make, the number of times we make the same mistake, nor the contempt we show Him when He points out our mistakes. He loves us always. Always. That's an awesome thing.

No, I wouldn't say that Christian life is easy. However, I've lived the alternative and I wouldn't look back for one second. Yeah, I'm a Christian, and quite frankly, there ain't another type of person I'd rather be.