Today: Feb 17, 2025

Showing gratitude for faith

Chardoneé Wright Staff Writer

For a long time growing up in the church, I knew what Easter Sunday was celebrated for, but it wasn’t until my relationship with Christ started to blossom that my heart was saturated with gratefulness for this celebration. In my belief, Jesus is a savior to all who confess with their mouths that he is Lord and believe in their hearts that God raised him from the dead. Jesus Christ came to save the world over 2,000 years ago and still lives today. You may ask yourself, what do I need to be saved from?

Well, Christ came to save the world from their sins so all can be put back into right-standing with the Father. Sin is what separates humans from God. It is an act of disobedience to God and his will for your life. The Bible clearly points out sins that God wants us to resist in order to keep us out of bondage that so easily trips us up. God hates sin, and we as humans don’t have the power to be free from sin without an intervention from God. Don’t mistake God for a Father who just commands and points his finger at you dictating how to live your life, but he welcomes you with open arms in love to teach you right from wrong, just like a father and child relationship ought to be.

So God decided to send his Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for all sinners no matter what race, age or gender you are. God’s eyes are upon all of us on earth. He looks down on us from heaven carefully and patiently watching the entire human race and everything we do. He watches with kindness, mercy and love, waiting for sinners to come back to him and really start living the life he has strategically crafted for every individual.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him,” John 3:16-17 (NIV).

Simply put, God has a love for us that is so astounding that he sent his one and only son down from heaven, into the womb of a virgin named Mary, as a living sacrifice so we can be made right with God. Had Jesus Christ not come down in the flesh and walked this earth to die for us, we would be lost. We would have no eternal life because sin would have overtaken us. Jesus was the only man who walked this earth that was sinless. Had Christ sinned, he would not have been able to save humanity.

It truly amazes me how obedient Jesus was to the Father (God) in fulfilling the purpose God had for His life. Jesus was born to die. That was his life’s purpose: to die for us. He did it so willingly and without mumbling and complaining. How many of us can truly fathom a man who was whipped, beaten, mocked and hung on a cross for you and I? His blood was shed on that cross like an animal going to the slaughter house.

Nowadays, there is a lot of idolatry present in our lives and all around us. People idolize wealth, cars, celebrities and all other materialistic commodities that make us temporarily feel good. This is none of which you can bring to the grave, nor will it get you into heaven. If you aren’t careful, the time you invest to buy material possessions can replace the quality time you need to be having with God. There is nothing wrong with wanting to live prosperously, but God promised if you seek him first, all the prosperous things will be already be added unto you. That means, you won’t have to chase wealth and money; it will be chasing after you because you are a child of the most high God.

Man looks on the outside, but God looks at your heart. He wants your heart pure before him. If you want to idolize something or someone, idolize Christ. Read about his life in the Bible. There is nothing that you are going through that Christ didn’t go through while he was on this earth. His life reflects many trials and tribulations that he suffered. He was lonely, talked about, beaten, falsely accused, mocked and the list goes on and on. That is why he is the perfect savior, because he knows firsthand what we go through because he experienced it. When you are going through a problem, isn’t it so much more fulfilling to talk with someone who has been there? In the same manner, talking to Christ about your problems is like talking to your friend who recognizes and cares for exactly what you are going through.

My personal belief is that a lot of people are blind to who Jesus Christ really is because there are so many other things in the world that have our attention momentarily–that fulfills lustful desires of the flesh–but in the end leads to destruction. This is exactly what Christ took to the cross with him: the sins of the world.

We alone in our human strength were not built to carry the heavy burdens of life or to pass through life tied and bound to every circumstance and trial that comes our way. Through Christ, we overcome and are more than conquerors. We are above and not beneath, the head and not the tail. Yet, to even get to that mindset you must have a relationship with Christ so that he can show you what you are made from, literally.

Additionally, unbelief and pride are also what I believe keeps us in a defeated mindset. A Christian walk is birthed by faith. Faith is believing even when you don’t have physical evidence in front of you.

Truly, I encourage everyone to develop a relationship with Christ, no matter what your background is. It’s relationship over religion. No matter how many times you go to church, whether you have never been to church or just don’t know where to start, always remember that God wants a relationship with you. It is truly humbling to know that the God of all the earth and universe, who counted and carefully mapped out every star in the sky; who knows the number of strands on your head; who designed every human being with a gift; who sits at the highest throne in heaven and watches over us; who is omnipresent and all-knowing; who created the sea and sand; who tells the winds when to blow and the winds obey him; wants a relationship with me, a mere sinner, saved by grace. How awesome. This just reminded me of a saying: “You don’t get right then come to Christ, you come to Christ to get right.” Evidently, the choice is always yours.

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