The Way of Jesus

Why don't New Year's resolutions work?  Why do we consistently fail to live up to our best intentions?  Why is it that when we sincerely want to change, we often still fail?  How is it possible love Jesus, want to please him, and remain mostly unchanged in our hearts? 

Jesus' three closest disciples loved him dearly.  They wanted to please him.  They wanted to stay true to him an watch and pray as he asked them in the Garden.  But they failed.  Why?  Jesus said, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."

Our problem is that, when the time comes to obey, we lack the strength to do so.  Often, we sin before we even have the chance to make a conscious decision one way or the other.  It is because our bodies are trained and conditioned for self-centeredness and sin.  We've been practicing all of our lives.  We have to change who we are in order to change what we do.  We have to go through spiritual training to become spiritually strong.  It is not magical or automatic.  It is hard work to submit our bodies to God, and then the Holy Spirit does his work of transformation.  It is difficult and painful at the start, just as a new exercise program is difficult on our bodies.  And like the new exercise program, it does little good without disciplined, consistent effort.  That is why we often give up. 

Author and Christian philosopher Dallas Willard puts it this way: "So, ironically, in our efforts to avoid the necessary pains of discipline we miss the easy yoke and light burden.  We then fall into the rending frustration of trying to do and be the Christian we know we ought to be without the necessary insight and strength that only discipline can provide… Our efforts to take control at that moment will fail so uniformly and ingloriously that the whole project will appear ridiculous to the watching world."

The message this week is about changing that.  Let's start the work of transformation.

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