I’m posting a devotion from Louie Giglio today. It is so beautifully stated. Enjoy.
Faith thrives in holy discomfort. The greatest moments in life can often result from some of the most uncomfortable decisions being made.
In fact, the gospel is rooted in a place of discomfort — Christ’s discomfort. The cross brought pain to Jesus in the same breath it brought freedom to us. We are alive because of Christ’s discomfort. We can fully live because of the rugged cross. Christ endured what was uncomfortable so we could become the sons and daughters of God. This is our story. People ask, “What does it mean to be a Christian?” It means to put our faith in the work of Jesus. What is the work of Jesus? That He came to the earth. He lived. He was crucified. He was resurrected. He ascended into heaven. He sent the Spirit of God, and He’s now living inside of us. This is the gospel. This is what we believe, and it all hinges around a very uncomfortable moment.
Somehow as a people of God, if we’re not careful, we can sing songs about the uncomfortable moments of Jesus while we live in the very comfortable moment of us. Thank you, Jesus — you took it all. But we forget what it truly means to identify with Christ. The Bible tells us that as Christ followers, we identify with His crucifixion just as much as we identify with His resurrection.
Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” That means our dreams and plans become merged with Christ’s when we remember that death and life are both part of Christ’s work.
Can you name anything in the life of faith that’s completely comfortable? Resisting sin? Nope, not comfortable. Being transformed into the image of Christ? No, not comfortable either. Joining with Christ on His mission? No. Wondrous, but not always comfortable. That’s why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:10, “For Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”