By this point in our journey together, you may have landed more deeply in reality with God. Your sincere attempts to grow have not propelled you forward like you thought they would. And you are tired… You have likely done your best to grow—lack of effort has not been your problem. But you have hit a wall, and no amount of straining can overcome it. You might even feel relieved to finally share your experience with God and simply rest with Him a while. I encourage you to lean into Jesus and rest a while longer if you need to. Receive His love for you—right where you are—as best you can.
I imagine that some of us might also be wondering about effort in the Christian life. am I advocating some form of passivity in place of responsible work? After all, Jesus tells us that it is impossible to grow on our own:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
Don’t these words prescribe a life of doing nothing other than waiting?
No. I will be quick to say that significant effort is required in the Christian life. Transformation is not a passive endeavor—growth demands action. So, we don’t abandon all exertion as we seek to grow; we cast aside misplaced exertion. Rather than working hard to change ourselves, we “labor” to be with Jesus and not alone.
Earlier in the Gospel of John, Jesus drops these earthshaking words:
“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23)
In Christ, we live together with God in our shared home. We “co-inhabit” the same space! This is amazing—God wants to “do life” with us! He does not want us to be alone in difficult places of our hearts, striving in our own strength to make ourselves better. He wants to work through our character issues relationally. Again, we can do nothing apart from Him.
Co-inhabitation, then, is a picture of the shared yoke in Matthew 11:29:
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
This verse helps round out our fundamental understanding of sanctification. When we discern an integrated, biblical picture of transformation, we see this landscape come into view:
- We are dependent on Jesus for growth (John 15:5).
- Our primary effort in this developmental process is to honestly open our hearts/homes to Jesus—to live with Him in reality (John 14:23).
- Our secondary effort is to labor relationally with Him and under His leadership to put off the old man and put on the new—to grow in Christ-like character (Ephesians 4:22-24, Matthew 11:29).
The major implication in this view of Christian maturation is that we live relationally with God in troublesome areas of our hearts where we have previously been alone. We no longer try to deal with them in our own understanding and strength. Rather, we invite God into these vexing areas or rooms. Even more, we live with Him in them. “Together with Jesus and not alone” is our heart’s deepest cry, even if we aren’t consciously aware of it.
Next week we will talk more about what it looks like to “co-inhabit” places of our hidden hearts with Jesus, followed by some work to discern the most important part of our heart needing His presence right now. But first, let’s pray about replacing loneliness and self-effort with family life and relational work.
Prayer Project
Please take some time to sit in a quiet place where you won’t be distracted for at least 30 minutes. Then, ask God and ask yourself the questions below. If you can, write down your answers in a notebook that you might keep for this journey we’re taking together. No right answers here—just be as honest as you can.
- God, how do I feel about my heart being our shared home? Do I welcome this idea? Does it make me feel uncomfortable? Why?
- What is my experience with family life, Lord? Have I lived authentically with my family, or have I largely played a role and kept my inner reality to myself?
- God, it sounds like more growth will require a disposition of raw honesty with you. How do I feel about sharing everything together? Are there some places of my heart that would be easier to share than others? What makes them easier to open to you? What makes the harder places more difficult?
- Help me trust you, Lord. You will not ask me to open everything at once—even if it were possible! You will help me see where we need to go over time—first, second, third…