Our tendency is to pick and choose which bible verses we want to obey, and in so doing we adopt our own guardrails for this are of our lives. Yet operating outside God’s guardrails always does damage to our relationships. Operating inside God’s guardrails is the path to safety and health!

“I’m not getting it” and by IT, we meant needs. As in, “I’m not getting my needs met!” Although many of us might feel this way, we learned to seek to meet needs before seeking to have needs met. Ask yourself questions like, “Have I truly listened to my spouse today?” Or, “How can I be a better friend to my spouse today?”

Religion says, Change and you can join us. Jesus says, Join us and you will change. There’s a huge difference. Jesus doesn’t expect you to be perfect. He just wants you to follow him. Being a sinner doesn’t disqualify you from following him. Being an unbeliever doesn’t disqualify you from following him. In fact, following almost always begins with a sinner and unbeliever taking one small step.

During his time on earth Jesus invited misbehavers and unbelievers to follow him. We are all invited to follow him. You are invited to follow him. But there’s something you need to know about following Jesus. It will cost you something eventually.

It may cost you money, career advancement, or even relationships. That’s because Jesus offers us the choice of denying ourselves now or losing ourselves later. But you’ll find that when you pay the price for following Jesus, you’ll be glad you did.

We don’t usually associate leadership with the church. Leadership is about what could and should be. We assume the church is about what has been. But Jesus was the greatest leader who ever lived. He modeled a unique approach to leadership that defies our expectations but changed the world. Jesus leveraged his authority for the benefit of those under his authority. Following Jesus means that, when we find ourselves in positions of authority, we do the same.

Most of us don’t become Christians with the intent of following Jesus. We become Christians because we were told obedience pays spirituality will fill and disobedience doesn’t. We become Christians hoping that a hole in our souls. We become Christians hoping God will fix us or fix someone we know. Eventually, our agendas clash with Jesus’ and we have to decide whether we’ll abandon him or follow.