Why do we fail at doing this? We’re trying to do it from our own effort and will power instead of relying on Christ in us. In John 15:4-5, Jesus said, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Remaining means believing God, depending on him and persevering no matter what because we know that God will do what he said he would do. The foundation for loving like Christ starts with realizing that we need to adandon self-effort and depend on Jesus to live his perfect life through us. As we learn the practice of remaining, it’s only then that we can live out the love and compassion of Jesus toward others.

In John 8:31-32, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” When it comes to following Christ, there are some key truths that we need to know beyond the basics. For example, we need to understand who Jesus is and what his mission was while he was here on earth. The Bible tells us that God came to earth and lived in human form as Jesus (John 1:14). Only God could save humanity. So, it makes sense that he had to create a way for us to be restored to him (John 1:29).

With all of the stress and busyness of life, many of us long for simplicity. It’s the same thing with church. When you peel back all of the layers of church you get to the core which is Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of John, 10 [10], Jesus talked about a more and better life that he wanted to give to everyone who followed him.

How do we experience life the way Jesus intended? By looking at the life of Christ we learn how to live, love and experience life-change that we can pass on to others.

The biggest battle that we face in life is right between our ears. We often let the guilt and shame messages sink into our inner beings and rob us of true joy and contentment. The Bible says that one of the ways to battle the negative messages is to renew our minds (Romans 12:1) with things that are positive and healthy (Philippians 4:8-9). As we do this over time, we begin to win the battle and experience the joy that God wants us to have - no matter what’s going on around us.

Part of experiencing emotional healthy is being able to let go of the things that bring us down. Unforgiveness is one of those things. When we’ve been hurt by someone and we refuse to work through forgiveness, we damage ourselves emotionally. The chain of unforgiveness is actually around our neck - and attached to the other person. Forgiveness isn’t instantaneous. It’s a process. The Bible tells us that as Christ as forgiven us so we too ought to forgive each other.

We all make mistakes. Even King David in the Bible was known as a man after God’s own heart but he made a huge mistake by stealing a man’s wife and having her husband killed (2 Sam 11 & 12). But, he repented and asked God forgiveness (2 Sam 12:13). And, God forgave him as depicted in Psalm 32 and Psalm 51. If God can forgive David, there’s hope for us today! And, because of God’s incredible mercy toward us, we can extend that same forgiveness to others.