The Wrong Focus

We often read of statistics that say that there is little difference between the behavior of Christians and non-Christians.  I don't know how accurate those statistics are, but I do know that many Christians are struggling to live out who they are in Jesus Christ.  One of the reasons for this struggle is that too many Christians have the wrong focus.  We focus too much on our selves rather than Jesus. 

I am not sure who said it but I heard someone recently say, "the gospel doesn’t call us to rededicate our lives to Jesus, but to come alive to Jesus’ total dedication to us."  Too often as Christians, we spend more time focusing on our shortcomings rather than Christ's victory.   Don't get me wrong, I believe that progress in our sanctification is made through "working out our salvation with fear and trembling."  But our work must always be a by product of God's work in us.  We choose to please Christ, when we desire Him more than ourselves.  Our problem is that we do not love Jesus more than anything else.

If we are to become more like Jesus, we must spend more time focusing on Him than ourselves.  Jerry Bridges once defined living a godless life as living any moment of our lives without considering God.  As Christians, we are called to seek God's kingdom and His righteousness first.  He is to be our priority.  As we consider Him and His love and dedication for us, our hearts will be drawn to Him more and more.  As we desire Him more, we will choose to please Him and our lives will begin to change.  The next time you fail in your walk, preach the Gospel to yourself again and again.  Think about it.