Following Christ Wasn’t Meant to be Easy

Most Christians start out excited to follow Christ, obey Him and learn about Him. However, after only a short time many of us get discouraged and give up, settling for complacency or even leaving the church. Why? Because following Christ is hard.

We live in a culture where everything is easy, comfortable and instant. Drive-throughs, text messaging, pizza delivery, memory foam mattresses, dishwashers and luxury vehicles are a normal part of everyday life. Even gyms cater to our comfort craving culture by promising maximum results with minimum effort.

These things aren’t necessarily bad, but when we carry these same expectations into our relationship with Christ the results are deadly; discouragement, complacency, anger and frustration. Because we discover that following Christ is harder than putting your dishes in the dishwasher, pressing start and walking away and most of us just weren’t prepared for the struggle.

It’s easy to think that once we get stronger in our relationship with Christ things will get easier. We won’t struggle to pray or share the gospel. Temptation won’t be so enticing.

But the truth is that following Jesus Christ wasn’t meant to be easy.

Following Christ is hard by definition.

Jesus said “Whoever desires to follow Me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” These are the requirements for everyone who wants to follow Christ. First, deny yourself. It’s easy to indulge in every craving you have. But denying yourself means you no longer just do whatever you feel like. It means doing things that are difficult for you.

Second, take up your cross. Jesus isn’t saying here to take up wearing a necklace with a cross pendant on it. A cross is a means of cruel, painful death. Jesus is saying that if you want to follow Him you must embrace things that will hurt – a lot! You must embrace pain and even death.

Third, follow Me. To follow someone means to go where they go, do what they do, act like they act. Think about where Jesus went, what He did, how He acted. He didn’t have a home or money, He hung out with the sinners and social outcasts, and ultimately died on a cross. Does that sound easy?

Christianity doesn’t get easier as you mature in Christ. In fact, it gets harder.

Don’t believe me? Just take a look at some of the Bible’s heroes.

Abraham was told to leave his home, his family, his friends and follow God to a new place. Abraham didn’t even know where he would end up when he packed his possessions and headed out into the wilderness with his wife to follow God. Later on when Abraham was over 100 (talk about being old and mature as a believer) God asked him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Abraham loved Isaac, he was the heir, Abraham’s joy and delight. And God said sacrifice him. Regardless of how godly you are this would have been extremely hard.

Esther was taken from her home and forced to become the wife of the king, a man she didn’t know and didn’t love. Then when God asked her to risk her security, position as queen, even her very life to save her people she boldly obeyed. To put things into perspective, this meant exposing the king’s right hand man, his best friend who he trusted more than anyone in the kingdom as the villain. Esther fasted from food and water for three days before talking to the king because this was hard stuff.

“Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth” (Hebrews 11:36-37)

And it wasn’t just these Biblical heroes who found it hard to follow God. Jesus Himself found it hard to follow His Father.

Jesus was absolutely perfect and His relationship with God was intimate. Nevertheless, when faced with the cross Jesus prayed, “‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.’ … And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:42-44)

If following God was hard for Jesus Christ, how come we expect it to be different for us?

Why it’s important to recognize that Following Christ is Hard

This article might seem a little depressing. But I believe it’s important for us to realize that following Jesus is hard for two reasons. First, understanding that challenges are part of the deal keeps us from becoming discouraged and giving up when we encounter them. Second, knowing what to expect helps you prepare.

An athlete doesn’t start out lifting 200 pounds. They might start with 25 then they gradually increase the weight and develop muscle so that eventually they can lift 200 even though it is harder than 25. Similarly a Christian can develop muscle so that they can face harder challenges when they come.

Don’t get discouraged when being a Christian is hard, Jesus promised it would be. Instead prepare to face the challenges head on. Below are 3 ways to build spiritual muscle so that you don’t collapse under heavy weight.

Start Now! 

Don’t wait until someone throws 200 pounds at you to start lifting. Start with 5, 10, 25 and work your way up so that when 200 pounds comes you are able to lift it. Begin embracing small, everyday challenges rather than running from them. Things like keeping your room clean, getting in the habit of reading God’s word and forgiving your family go a long way in building spiritual muscle.

Pray for Grace and Strength

You can’t do this on your own. The difference between weight lifting and Christianity is that sometimes the weights God throws at us are 100,000 pounds; impossible for any human to lift even with practice. God does this so we cannot glory in our own strength, but so that He might get all the glory and credit. He’s promised to supply strength in our weakness. Pray that God would give you faith to believe this and that in your time of need He would be faithful to His promise.

Keep Your Eyes on Him

In Christ you have everything you need for life and godliness. In the middle of hard circumstances we need to take our eyes off of the challenge and look at the Saviour. Yes it may be difficult, but you have Jesus.

When David was hiding in the caves from Saul, many people came to stay with him. They knew that David was the true king of Israel and wanted to follow him rather than Saul. However this meant living in a cave. They could’ve looked around at the cave and got discouraged and upset at their life. But they only needed to remember why they were there, because David, their king was there.

Following Christ isn’t easy. It wasn’t meant to be. But rather than growing discouraged and giving up, recognize that Jesus promised difficulty in this life and work on strengthening your spiritual muscle. Pray for God’s grace and keep your eyes fixed on your King.