What is a Christian’s life? How would you define a Christian’s life? A blissful, happy, joyful type of life, right? Today’s church tells us that when we accept Christ, from that moment our lives are going to be “better”! 

My question is what is “better”? And have we misinterpreted what we sign up for when we accept Jesus Christ?

We all come to Christ from different walks of life, and that’s one of the beauty of Christianity that I love, because friends’, even strangers’ testimonies strengthen us all as the body of Christ, and there is no question about that. Some come to Christ after a life of headache and they just want rest; others come to Christ because they are just so overwhelmed and they just want to breathe, and some are privileged to be born in Christian families.

Putting aside how you became a Christian, how did you feel after you accepted Christ? Please, think about it (comment and let me know how you felt? it would be a pleasure to know!).

This may sound weird, but since I was little, my first dream was to get baptized! Why did I want to get baptized? Honestly, I don’t know why, but nevertheless, it was my first dream. Sure enough, at 13 years old I was presented with an opportunity to get baptized and oh my goodness was I excited (my family took a video of that day and trust me when I say that I couldn’t stop smiling!! I just couldn’t!). This was my first dream come true, though I didn’t fully understand what had just happened that day.

At that time, I really thought that something miraculous was going to happen after being baptized. Yes, something miraculous happened that day, I was saved! “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved”. Mark 16:16

But honestly, that’s not the miraculous thing that I was hoping for (I am not kidding), I thought I was going to have some superman, batman kind of power (hey, don’t blame me for having such childish thoughts at 13 years old!). 

If our lives are supposed to be better after we accept Christ, let’s Biblically define better. 

If you were paralyzed before accepting Christ, you can still be paralyzed after He has became your savior. Of course, He has the power to heal you, but He may not heal you for reasons He only knows! If you were rich before you accepted Christ, you can become poor after inviting Him in your life. If you were broke before inviting Jesus Christ in your life, I’m sorry, but you can stay broke even after accepting Christ. These are examples of hard situations that we might find ourselves in even after we have surrendered our lives to God’s Sovereignty. 

Christ is not a genie who makes your wishes come true after you accept Him.

Yes, He may change your circumstances for the better after you invite Him in your heart but sometimes He doesn’t. And unfortunately we live in a culture where people are drawn to Christ because they are expecting Him to change their circumstances more than they want their sinful nature to be changed! Oh God, I pray that our motives towards You will always, always be pure! 

If you call yourself a follower of Christ, suffering is a must. 

These days Christian people don’t know how to handle trials because suffering is a strange concept. And please don’t get me wrong, suffering sucks. It simply hurts. I am not saying that suffering is easy, I am just saying it’s something you deal with a lot actually when you are a Christian.

“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected…” Luke 9:22 Why in the world do we expect to share in His glory if we don’t share in His suffering? “… but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father! The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.” Romans 8:17

I am not a mother, I never gave birth, but I can’t help but think that because of the pain of labor, there is this preciousness of the Child that a mother feels because of the suffering she went through. The baby become more precious because of the pain a mother goes through to deliver the child.

So our lives become better when we accept Christ in the sense that He comes and lives in us when we invite Him. And when He comes in our lives, He brings peace, and joy for us to endure whatever may come our way. Jesus knew we would suffer as we follow Him, that’s why He gave this comfort before He left, “take heart I have overcome the world” John 16:33. How about we stop being surprised about suffering? Because life is a battlefield for a Christian and everyday we wrestle against “powers, against rulers of the darkness of this age, against, spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”. Ephesians 6:12

Christianity is not for the faint-hearted. But every step, in each suffering, remember these two things: 1. God is always with you, and 2. nothing will you ever go through is ever wasted. He uses everything, I mean everything for your good my friend.

Finally, let’s listen in on what Paul had to say to the young Timothy regarding following Jesus Christ and what it means,

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,… Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I suffer everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
 if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself” 2 Timothy 2:1, 3-13.

Dear heavenly Father, we are speechless for who You are for us God. Lord, I pray that we may always go to our Bibles to hear what You have to say. There is always many opinions and critics left and right, but Lord, only Your Word will ever matter eternally. Lord, I pray for guidance as we walk this Christian life; Lord, I pray for clarity so we can always see Your face! Lord, I pray for obedience, so we may always have the boldness to do what You called us to do dear heavenly Father. And with the words of Paul, Lord, I pray that You will give understanding in everything to every person reading this. In Jesus’ holy name I pray! Amen!