Connecting With Jesus

Christian Behaviour

Keeping in Balance

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1) It’s tough to stay in balance, especially if you’re trying to conquer a four-inch wide balance beam. Seven-time Olympic medalist Shannon

Miller admits she has fallen off more times than she can count. “I’ve split,
bonked it, scraped it, pounded it, bounced off it. I’ve landed on my head,

my hip, my thigh, my ribs, and just about every other body part.” But along the way, she has learned a thing or two about keeping balanced. For instance, a gymnast must remember that maintaining balance depends on the body being square in line above the center of the beam. That means keeping thighs together, arms narrow, and shoulders squared.

It’s easy for people to lose their spiritual balance and fall off the narrow road to the kingdom of heaven-especially in the area of Christian behaviour. There are two extremes we fall into. The first is attempting to keep rules as a means of salvation. Of this, Paul warns, “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4).

The other extreme is concluding that since works cannot save, they don’t matter at all. Paul also warned of this extreme too: “You, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). In essence, both views will cause you to slip off the beam.

The best way to stay in balance in our Christian behaviour is by “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). While our behaviour and spirituality are closely connected, we can never earn our salvation by doing good works. Instead, Christian behaviour is the natural result of standing squarely in Christ.

Apply It:

Do a contest with your kids or friends and see who can stand on one foot the longest. What might you learn from this exercise about being balanced in your Christian walk?

■Dig Deeper:

Matthew 7:13; John 17:15, 16; Ephesians 4:1

Matthew 7:13 KJV
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

John 17:15 KJV
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

John 17:16 KJV
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Ephesians 4:1 KJV
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,