A Weak Week

Life is hard. Being human is hard. So I had to unharden my heart towards this verse this week to get some fresh perspective on how to live this thing well. I'm going through stuff, and I know you are too.

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2

{We need each other. The weight on one person alone is crushing.}

I so want to reflect this, but the truth is when someone's burdens are too difficult or heavy or 'messy', I'm like "she gone" (to myself). Anyways. This is critical; real people can go through real things, and never feel more alone.

{Isolation, whether self-imposed or group-imposed is a weapon of the enemy}
who prowls around trying to weaken us, get us alone, and then deliver the deadly strike.
{1 Peter 5:8}

To combat this, we need:
{Hebrews 10:25, 1 Thessalonians 5:11}

Living messy lives together requires both sacrifice and risk. Is it worth it? Can we crucify the idol of superficial Christianity?

Another beautiful truth I've learned this week is that Jesus was not perfectly able/equipped to remain sinless because He avoided places entirely where he would be tried/tempted. No. Jesus was able to remain sinless by first actually being in the world, facing its trials and temptations, and by being empowered to withstand them.

As a friend put it this week - we have to #outsource our strength to God; He empowers us. He is the powerline.

From Matthew 4:1-11, three times Satan approached and tempted Jesus, and each time He said - "Dude, get out of here." Kind of. But He was tempted in three ways: with an earthly/fleshly temptation (food),  with power (over angels), and with authority (over the Earth). {We are still tempted in these ways today.} Each time, Jesus resisted. In His strength, we can too.

Point # 1: Experiencing the trial or temptation is not the sin; giving in is.
Point # 2:  Trials = emotionally radical and exhausting. Emotions do not equal weakness; they equal humanness. In our poisoned humanness, grace is the only saving antidote - first passed down to us, and then passed amongst each other. {Grace!}
Point # 3: God is gentle with us in our weaknesses. God does not make assumptions about our character, scold us for having bad character, or kick us when we're already down. He gently guides us, in His timing, and in perfect love to look more like Him.