Releasing our right to be justified is one of those “rubber meets the road” moments of our faith. We can try to take control and refuse to be denied our definition of justice, or we can let go and entrust ourselves to a Savior who “understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15). No one likes to be misunderstood. No one likes to stand by and let it happen. Yet Jesus embraced His betrayal because He knew God is faithful (Hebrews 10:23).
This very dilemma has been in my heart and mind for a while. As Christians, I believe these defining moments are inevitable in our lives at some point. I often think of a statement I heard a while back by Mark Hall of Casting Crowns: ‘You can say what you think, but you live what you believe.’ I reflect on this often because of the irony in the message. Not unlike many other sayings we often hear and repeat to others, this particular statement from Mark will ultimately prompt introspection and an evaluation of our own progress. Personally, I reached a point in which the fingers … my own, which too often would point at others … began to point at me … at my own shortcomings and my own patterns of complacency. Amazing how God can humble us in this fashion.
Invariably, I can attribute this realization to God’s wisdom and an ever-growing love for God and others as a result. Throughout my walk with Christ, there has been a direct correlation between when I feel a sense of accomplishment, contentedness, and peace and when I’m feeling anxious, heavy-hearted, and bitter. When I’m consistently in the Word and tuned in to my relationship with the Holy Spirit, my life is flooded with optimism, harmony, service, and joy.
I feel that when we begin to reach this narrow road as Christians … where self dies and vindication is replaced with compassion and humility … the respective roads on which we walk begin to converge and widen as we begin to accommodate and embrace other like-minded Christians doing the same.
