Well, I am back home, in the states. And so far its been exactly how they tell you it wil be: overwhelming. And I have begun regretting the days when I ever wished the World Race would just be over. Its a time of my life that I cant ever forget, even if I ever wanted to, and there is no way on earth I would want to forget it. The lessons I learned, the community I had, the family I made, the people I served, the places I saw, the power of the Spirit I saw, and the growth with my Heavenly Father makes every second of the hardships, dirtiness, stinkiness and sweatiness worth it. Its something most of us wont realize and appreciate until the Race is over, unfortunately. But now thats over, I am so thankful! And wish I hadnt wished it away. But I am so thankful for all of it, and what made it possible: the Gospel.
(reunited with the siblings!)
With Jesus Christ, and His plan of salvation, this trip would have never happened. I am so thankful for the story of his salvation and what it looks like. Salvation is so amazing! And I have talked about my spiritual walk throughout the year, and I think the best way to wrap up the trip/ start my post race blogging is to share what the Gospel actually is.
We are imperfect human beings. Plain and simple. We do things that hurt other people. Its called sin. Its the opposite of love. Love is doing whats best for the people around you in the light of Christ, and sin is doing whats best for yourself in light of yourself. Because of this, we cant have a natural, easy relationship with Jesus like He had intended at the beginning. So, he sent Himself in the form of a man, to live like us, and to be our sacrifice Himself for us.
That part most people know. Its the next part where people trip up. If we choose to believe Christ did all that for us, then we must have faith in Him and what He said He did and what He is doing and where He is going. You must have faith in what He says about you. And if you accept Christ, He thinks no negative thoughts of you ever again. You are His child, His royalty and His love. There is "no condemnation". None! In fact, Christ said its better for Him to go, because through Him sending the Spirit, we will do "even greater works than I". So that means not only is there no condemnation for those in Him, but also a faith that says you can do things greater than raising someone from the dead, feeding thousands of people with a handful of food, and minister to prostitutes.
(Love Does by Bob Goff and Donald Miller.)
Another thing: leaving religion behind. Jesus calls us to a life broken to law and alive to freedom. A willingness to go beyond the religiosity of the world. Yes, even the "Christian religiosity". Christ was known as a drunk and a friend of thieves and prostitutes. And I dont think He got those nicknames from always drinking water and saying acohol is from the devil, or completely avoiding anyone who didnt look like him. He probably got it from making more wine from water for a week long drinking fest, also known as a wedding. Or from hanging out with prostitutes and loving them despite what the culture told them to do. Im not saying be rebellious. Im saying Christianity is "Jesus plus NOTHING ELSE, period. Not even a building." The Bible says they will know you are Christians by how well you love people. Not by keeping laws. Its easy to see what people think and how much they love God when you see them interact with a stranger or on the high way or when something doesnt go their way. Loving people like Christ first loved you, while you were still a sinner like "them" is our command as Christians. That and nothing else.
Dont get me wrong, this doesnt make life easy. At all. In fact, my life was probably way easier before I accepted Christ. But you know what, when you experience a real and true love, its worth giving up your own self for. Its willing to go through so many hard times. More hard times than easy, because the love is so worth it. And it is. It hasnt been easy at all. Ive struggled with reading my Bible, porn, doubt, being made fun of, given up a year of my life to sweat my ass off and be dirty, given up a dream of becoming an athletic trainer to study His Word more in depth, and even given up relationships. Giving up all of that if it gets in the way of showing Christ we love Him more than anything.
So thats the Gospel. Its not as glamorous as many people make it sound. But its worth every second of it. Its hard, and its made my life completely different than I thought it would be. But you know what? Ive felt His love, seen His sacrifice, felt His presence and couldnt imagine my life any different. What do you think? Does it sound worth it to you? To give up every aspect of loving yourself to let a perfect God love yourself for you? It may not look exactly how you want it to or how you thought it would. It will be even better! Harder, but better. Please, accept a love that is greater than anything we could ever expect.
