Hammer on Anvil '

Sometimes Christians make things a lot harder than they need to be. When asked what being a Christian looks like, for example, have you ever thought or said the following:

• you go to church every Sunday
• you attend a mid-week Bible study
• you got baptized at some point
• you read your Bible and pray

Though these are things that Christ followers generally do, to simply rattle off a list of seeming "qualifications" rather misses the point. Jesus made it much easier in Matthew 22. A Pharisee asked Him, "Which is the greatest commandment in the law?" Jesus boiled His response down to two simple things:

• Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind.
• Love your neighbor as yourself.

If we are careful to be diligent in these things, all the rest will follow naturally. If we focus on man-made edicts, however, the result is generally resentment and eventual burnout. We may also become more critical, because we judge people based on whether they're following the rules we have imposed on ourselves.
As I have grown older, I have been humbled to discover how difficult I have often made things, when Jesus makes it strikingly simple. "Become as a little child," He bids us. Love Him. Love others. Period.