I am coming to the same conclusion again and again, as I have done in times past: that nothing really matters in this life except Jesus Christ.
We all like to feel justified, to feel special, to feel loved and to feel important. But when nothing else has worked out as you feel it should have, or to put it in a modern terminology: Life sucks! Well, who cares. Move on! Really, I need to find my worth in Christ. Find my meaning in Him. Because when it all comes down to it, the meaning of living and existing is Christ. True happiness and true joy can only be found in Him when we decide to make Him our true reason for everything we do.
We like to find the reason we’re here. Again, it’s Christ. After all, the world was created by Him and for Him. He is the reason the world exists. So to find the true reason of why we’re here and how we’re going to make ourselves happy is through Him – Jesus Christ.
We like to find meaning and joy in so many things in this life. And yes, one can find purpose in work and play and in living. But if you truly want to find the truth of your existence and fulfillment, that fills you deep within your soul that only your spirit can define, Jesus is it. He will do it for you.
I’ve been reading, searching, and trying to find what makes me tick, and what stuff I need to do to overcome in this life. I have come up with some pretty good stuff about myself that I need to work on. It’s a wonderful feeling when you discover what you need to improve on, especially when you’ve finally found the courage to admit to yourself, “ah yes, this is a fault I have that I would like to work on.” Then you realize that it’s not an easy thing you’re embarking on. Still, to actually be truthful to yourself is a great accomplishment on its own. And yet, I feel like even though that is good and all, without Christ, discovering yourself is meaningless. You know why? Your discovery doesn’t glorify Him, it only glorifies you. Unless you include Christ in your self-discovery, it means nothing in the end. Whether you do good to others with your discovery or become selfish and please yourself only, it all comes down to standing before Christ in the end. What have you done for Him? You see, nothing really matters in the end but Christ, because Christ is the only one God sent down from heaven for our means of salvation. Unless we believe in Him and give our lives to Him, all our living, all our existing, and all our dreaming and accomplishing are all going to be lost. The Bible tells us without Jesus Christ we will not be saved. As Jesus tells us Himself,
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? {Mark 8:36}
Without Jesus Christ, we will all be lost. All we’ve worked hard for in this life will be taken away from us in the end. On the other hand, what a beautiful thing it is when we get Jesus involved in everything we do, and I mean every thing. It’s a life definitely worth living for. We will gain everything in the end. We will not be lost.
So these days I am learning to tune in to the Lord and say to Him, “Father, I think this is a fault of mine, etc. What do you think? How shall I overcome it? How shall I deal with it? Please help me.” Funny thing though, I am finding that although I think it’s amazing that I am seeing what I need to improve on and need to work on in myself (and I would think the Lord would be happy for me), instead I find Him telling me He doesn’t want me to focus on it. Instead He says to me, “Focus on Me and love Me. I will take care of your faults.”
You see why He is incredibly amazing? We think if we work hard enough in pinning down our faults for self-improvement and in turn we will make ourselves happy, Christ is saying, “No, no, your focus must be on Me – on all my goodness and on loving Me. This is what is going to make you happy. Whatever your faults are I will take care of those for you. Focus on Me.”
But then we would like to say, “But Lord, don’t You want me to change? Don’t You want me to improve?” But instead He’s saying, “No, no, that’s a long way process. Going through Me, loving Me, and finding your happiness through Me will change you, and it will not take you a lifetime. Trust Me on this. This is the easier way to self-contentment and happiness: loving Me.”
This is why I say in the beginning, nothing else matters in this life but Jesus Christ – loving Him, living for Him, and knowing who He is.
The world would like us to be caught up with finding ourselves and figuring out what’s wrong with us so we can make ourselves happy. But in the end, finding Jesus and our existence in Him is what truly matters. Now, tomorrow, and forever: Jesus. He said He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one goes to the Father, the Creator and Reason for all things, except through Jesus Christ. He is truly the only way to live.
That’s why I love Him. I love Jesus so much! Although I see myself more and more through Him, I am finding it is only to let me see more and more how loved I am by Him. He’s not threatened at all at my self-discovery, or of how so full of faults I am. He’s not threatened by how overwhelming it is to discover yourself and find it’s not an easy thing to kick a bad habit that’s been a part of you forever. The Lord is not worried. He’s saying to me, “You want to overcome that? Love Me. Don’t be discouraged. Love Me and you will overcome it.” He is actually offering me a supernatural way of changing my life, that on my own may take me a lifetime to achieve, and perhaps never.
Plus, loving Him is far easier than trying to change my life long bad habits. Loving Him is simply gazing at His face and adoring Him, singing songs to Him, and telling Him how wonderful He is in my life and how much He means to me. It means spending more and more time with Him.
The truth is, discovering ourselves can bring us to depression. It can make us feel like such a failure and un-loveable. That’s why He doesn’t want us focused on it. He wants us focused on Him, because He has no faults. He is all goodness! He is all lovely! He is all perfection! True worth and true contentment can only happen through Him. Finding ourselves in Jesus is finding why we matter, why we exist, and what will make us whole.
He is so awesome! I love Him so much!
The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. {Lamentations 3:24-26}
Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. {Lamentations 3:40-41}
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. {John 14:6}
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. {Colossians 1:16-17}
Prayer
Father I thank You for Your great love upon me in this life. I thank You for Your truth in my life. I thank You Father for revealing Yourself to me more and more each day as I come nearer and closer to You. You are a Rewarder of those who diligently seek You and wait for You. I thank You that You are true and real and alive and I can truly experience You. Thank You, Jesus.
Father, I pray Your continued truth in my life. I pray that You will continue to show me what You desire for me to do, how to follow You and how to love You. To give up all the ideologies of this world of finding myself, and focus my pursuit in this life of nothing else but You. In You I will find myself and my true joys. In You I will find my truth and my meaning. In You I will find eternity. Please, help me to pursue after You each and everyday. I pray Father, in Your most wonderful and precious name, Jesus. Thank You, Father. Amen.
