Be prepared.

We have to be prepared for opposition. The world doesn't like Truth. People will call us names. They will say that we are mean (the Truth feels mean sometimes, but we can speak it in love), that we are exclusionary (Christianity is exclusionary by its very nature, so yes), that we are bigoted (in a world that defines a person's identity by everything except who they are to God, insisting on defining identity through God's Word feels bigoted), that we are hateful (it is not hateful to speak the Truth, but definitions matter and we need to keep that in mind). We will lose friends and communities. It will suck.

The world doesn't like Truth.

Remember, we live in a fallen world. It's a world full of people who have fallen for lies. There are lies about who and what humans are, lies about what love is, and lies about who God is.

Truth is in Scripture. God reveals Himself to us in those words. We can believe them, we can trust them, we can obey them. 

Humans are not gods and never will be gods or angels. Humans were created in God's image, made to live in communion with Him. But we fell for lies about who and what we are, and that has led to all manner of confusion. It led to Jesus's life and death and resurrection and ascension. We can have new life in Christ if we accept the Truth of the gospel and recognize our identity as God's beloved creation, turn away from our sin and towards the Truth of Jesus, and do our best to stay on that narrow road.

Love is patient, love is kind. Love is honest. Love supports Truth, not lies. Love doesn't affirm the lies of the world, it holds on tightly to the Truth of the gospel. It is welcoming, it recognizes that people have fallen for lies and are not to blame for the continuance of those lies, but it also encourages people to turn away from lies and live in Truth. The real, objective Truth of the gospel, not the variable and changeable "truth" of self.

The Becoming isn't easy. It's scary. It's scary to stop holding onto your own life. We naturally want to be in control of our lives, and that's why the lies are so tempting. They let us pretend that we have control over things, they let us feel like we define everything about ourselves.

But if we're going to really Become, we can't hold onto our lives so tightly. We have to "let go and let God".

The paradoxical thing is that the lies of the world, for all that they say we're in charge of our own lives, are a huge burden. Think about it. If I'm in charge of my own life, if I define who I am and make things happen in my life, then when bad things happen that's my fault, and if I'm not happy that's my fault, and if I'm uncomfortable with something to do with who I am as a human, I can change it and that'll be better.

None of that is true, and it's a huge weight we don't have to carry.

If we let go of the lies of the world, we can share our burdens with Jesus and live so much more freely without so much heaviness and responsibility on our shoulders.

If God is in charge of my life, I have clear expectations laid out for me in Scripture and I can know what to do in different situations. (Not everything is specifically described in Scripture--we do need to read it in context of the time and place it was written--but the principles of the gospel, as laid out in the Sermon on the Mount, are clear and apply across the board.)

If my identity is defined by God, I can know that I am saved through faith in Jesus. I am God's adopted child, not just His creation. I am His image-bearer, made to live in communion with Him and to share His Truth with the world. I can know that, even though I am human and fall for lies and commit sin as a result, I am able to come to God through Jesus and repent and be made clean and worthy of being in His presence.

When bad things happen in my life, when I am unhappy, or when I am uncomfortable with something about myself, I know that it's because I live in a fallen world and the people around me fall for lies constantly, as do I. I know that sometimes the bad things are because of my own sin, and sometimes they're because of someone else's sin. I know that God will get me through all of these situations because I know I can trust Him. Sometimes discomfort is a sign that I've made mistakes and need to change my behaviour, but sometimes it's a sign that I've let some lies deceive me again. The trick is figuring out which is which, and that is so much easier when I'm grounded in Christ.

I pray for everyone who reads this and for those who don't. I pray that we all will discover--or rediscover--the gospel, the good news that Jesus came and died and rose and ascended and is our salvation. I pray that we will all repent and turn away from the lies of the fallen world we live in, no matter the cost, and follow Christ on the narrow way, so that we may have eternal life. And I pray that when we stray off the path He has set before us, we will be pulled back into the fold by our fellow believers--or, if none of them notice, by Christ Himself--so that we can continue walking in fath, living in the Truth of God's Word, being light and salt to this broken world.

In Jesus' Name I pray these things.

Peace & Blessings.