Never Forget

I have been walking with The Lord for quite some time now and something I noticed is that we sometimes forget where we came from. We forget what messes we were pulled out of. In the movies the person in distress never forgets when the hero saved them, they never forget when they were in a life threatening situation and then rescued from the burning building if you will.

My life was filled with anger, hate and darkness before Jesus came into my life. When He came to me it was the simple truth of His word and the message of love and forgiveness that brought about the change in my life. As I continued in my walk with Christ I grew in my knowledge of Him and His ways. It was not as if when I got saved I suddenly knew everything, it is a continual process.

Sometimes I see Christians putting a heavy burden on those who are new believers, expecting them to automatically be walking at the pace they are. Let me say that this is just not possible. The bible is full of instances where religious men were placing too heavy of a burden on those who were getting saved, and we see that this is not the way it is supposed to be. When we put burdens on others, normally the burden is something that we ourselves are unable to carry, so how can we expect others to do what we can’t even do ourselves?

I believe some Christians today have forgotten where they came from, forgetting the day they met Jesus and the condition they were in when He found them. They have forgotten that it was a process to get where they are at in their walk with Christ. Saved doesn’t mean “perfect” so we need to stop expecting perfection from people. We need to operate in the same grace that The Lord shows us.

Whenever we go to Costco as a family to buy groceries it is always an adventure taking my wife because the shopping list changes and more items are magically added to our cart. Then you add our 5 crazy little kids and the list you made is pretty much a joke. The cart is full, waiting in the checkout seems to be the best time for the kids to have an impromptu dance party, and then loading up the family van is like working a life size  rubik’s cube.

Finally, you head home and now it’s time to unload the stockpile of groceries you have incase of a zombie apocalypse and you need 5 gallons of soy sauce, a lifetime supply of dill pickles and maple syrup to cover the entire west coast.

Now, I cannot expect my 2 year old son to carry the same weight my 7 year old son can. I cannot require my 7 year old son to carry the same weight that me as a 32 year old man can, that is just nonsense.

In the same way, older, more mature Christians can’t expect new believers in Christ to do what they can and operate the way they do. Just like my boys need to grow and mature so they can carry more weight, new believers need time to grow and mature too….and they will!

My boys will one day be able to carry the weight I can, and hopefully beyond. New believers will one day be the older more mature Christians leading the church. Give them some time, and never forget where you came from.