The hardest challenge in life: Being a Christian

Being a Christian is a lifestyle more than it is a religion. Once you choose to believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, you now have to abide by His rules each and every day you live on this earth. For the majority of my life, I have struggled to abide by the rules and probably will for the rest of my life. Perfection is impossible for us and God wanted it to be that way. But every day you have to choose to do the right things according to God’s manual, which is the Bible.

There are a few things that makes being a Christian an everyday challenge. The first is knowing when the Lord is calling on you. There were many times in my college career when the Lord tried to reach out to me, but I wasn’t in tune with him, so I missed the message. Instances where I would be asked to give up a sin that’s been attached to me for years, or I was asked to cut off a toxic friendship or relationship. Or I was simply being asked to speak to someone else who needed to be touched by the Lord’s presence and wisdom, but I was not obedient or available for him to move through me.

This led to the Lord having to reach drastic efforts just to get my attention, which usually means taking away things you love, things you idolize, or by making an example out of you in front of others.

In my situation, the Lord often took things away from me that I loved, such as football, or blessings that were specifically supposed to be given to me and He’s given it to others who are more prepared.

During my freshman year in 2018, the Lord took football away from me as I was kicked out of school and was sent back home. For three and a half years, I wasn’t on campus taking classes, and I wasn’t playing football either. This ate me alive for many years until the Lord gave me the opportunity to play again in 2021.

But that was only the beginning of the Lord’s lessons, and callings for my life. The next lesson He taught me is that He will not boost you into the spotlight until you have proven to Him that you’re in it for the right reason.

God could bless every single person on earth a million times if He wanted to, but He knows that everyone wouldn’t use those blessings for the right reasons. Many people would abuse His blessings for selfish reasons, leading them to disrespect the Lord. We are asked to prove to the Lord each and every day that we are worthy of the blessings He looks to bestow upon us.

We prove it every day by staying in prayer, reading His word and allowing His way of living to become ours on a daily basis. This is something I still struggle with today.

In a world full of distractions and morals that are based off of flesh and sinful desires, it’s hard to remain disciplined in our faith by reading and praying every day. We are often times busy and finding time for other things is hard, but the Lord should always be our priority because He can help us improve with the things we struggle with the most.