Christianity is about Fulfillment, Happiness, and Purpose!

Wrong. I am done buying into that lie. It makes Christianity into a religion that serves self. It has lead me down a path toward flirting with rejecting God and considering abandoning my faith. Jesus said following him was about taking up a cross (I don't think any of us in the 21st century really even know what that means). It was was about death to self. The lie that following Jesus brings happiness, fulfillment, and purpose is a dangerous fusion between the promises of God and the promises of this world. There is a great hope and peace in following Jesus. But that hope is there to give Christians courage because the narrow road to life is hard. It is a full of danger, uncertainty, struggle, and hardship. Dying to oneself is one of the most difficult jobs for a human being corrupted by sinful desires. Because of sin, the image-bearers of God have become haters of God and lovers of self. I love myself, there is no other explanation why I still fall into sin, why I do not follow God perfectly. The journey of the Christian life is the journey away from self and towards God. Their is no higher calling and truthfully it is an impossible calling (from a human standpoint). No man can completely die to self and follow God. But herein lies one of the many reasons that God is worthy of giving up of myself. God made is possible through his grace for human beings to die to themselves and follow him. He is the power behind my death. He is the one who gives me the strength to die. I need to die, but on my own I would try to preserve my own life and therefore would perish. I will follow Jesus not because I want fulfillment, but because Jesus said "whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 16:25 ESV).


I love myself; Jesus tells me I have to give up myself. The one I love most dearly is me; Jesus wants to replace me as this one that I love most dearly. This means seeking MY fulfillment, MY happiness, MY purpose just plain sounds silly, I am not the one that matters.