CommonChristianity: Matthew 11:30

5:00 PM | Posted by Common Christianity | | Edit Post

Friends: Faith is more about what we think than what we do, and our hope aligns with our faith. Here is a brief inventory. Happy New Year, and have a great week.

Blessings! Bob

Labels: 1 Peter 3:15, Matthew 11:30, my faith, testimony

Spirituality column #999

January 6, 2026

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Some of the Reasons

By Bob Walters

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” – 1 Peter 3:15

We are winding toward my one thousandth weekly Common Christianity column – perhaps you noticed this is #999 – and next week we’ll offer some background of how the column got started back in 2006 and what has kept it going for almost 20 years.

Today, although you didn’t ask, I’ll address some reasons for the hope I have and consider some abiding definitions and understanding of my faith in Christ.

Here goes. My testimony is not about my successes or failures, my virtues or sins, my discernment or foolishness, or my joys or sorrows. I’ve experienced all sides.

My testimony is about light, reality, truth, love, trust, and faith.

Light: The lights came on when I realized, at age 47, that Jesus was and is real.

Reality: God, Jesus, and the Spirit are not only real; the Holy Trinity issues forth a purpose of love, relationship, and glory in God’s mind and Creation. That’s reality.

Truth: I’ll never claim to know all truth, but the darkness of doubt left when I realized truth – objective, real, divine, unshakeable truth – exists in Christ. Truth isn’t limited by knowing facts or knowing true from false. It is knowing truth exists. I’m free to doubt myself, but always with the security that my doubt does not affect God’s truth.

Love: We think love is a feeling; love actually is the being and righteousness of God. It is the uncoerced relationship, community, and society of the Holy Trinity, shared with Creation generally and specifically with humanity through Jesus Christ. Love is a mystery and a willful commitment. God is love, and is included as His image in our lives.

Trust: Jesus isn’t lying to us. He’ll do what He promises and has done what He said He would do. Trust in Jesus is not about me understanding my circumstances or Him affecting my outcomes. It is about His ultimate purpose; i.e., us in God’s Kingdom.

Faith: Superior to all the senses, faith is buoyed, proven, assured, grounded, anchored … and unprovable with words. It is the most private of our motivations, known only to us and truly to God. In fact, God likely knows our faith – or lack of it – better than we do. Faith is the foundation of human joy built with hope and love; faith is trust in things unseen. It is in our faith that we can truly see; faith opens the eyes of hearts.

We are thankful for forgiveness and salvation, but must always remember the ultimate goal is restored eternal relationship with God, resting in His heavenly Kingdom after toiling on this monstrously unpredictable yet magnificently beautiful Earth.

Our obedience is for our sake. Nothing we do affects God’s glory, alters His truth, or dampens His righteousness. In Matthew 11:30 Jesus says His yoke is easy and his burden – what he demands – is light. The Ten Commandments tell us how to honor God, but really tell us how to live at peace and with love for each other. We benefit.

Christianity is unique because it is not a manmade religion; it is about the person of God – Jesus – living on earth as a human and telling us the greatest story, the most profound truth, and the best news we could ever imagine. Yet, we couldn’t believe it.

In fact, despite all the Old Testament prophesies of God’s plan, the Son’s arrival, and man’s salvation in Christ, the Gospels tell us nobody understood Jesus’s mission to restore God’s Creation back to God Himself. Jesus hung on the cross, died, and was resurrected with thousands of witnesses. Through scripture and time, we understand.

Those are some of the reasons for the hope I have. What are yours?

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) never planned to write 1,000 columns, nor has plans to quit.

674 - 'Grace Guy'

5:00 PM | Posted by Common Christianity | | Edit Post

Spirituality Column #674

October 15, 2019

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

‘Grace Guy’

By Bob Walters

“My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Jesus, Matthew 11:30

My friend Glen approached me before church last Sunday – as always with a smile – and mentioned he’d been reading my weekly columns for “a while now.”

Glen is a trained chaplain (hospitals, etc.), is an astute Bible guy, helps out in seemingly every ministry in our church, and it’s encouraging to know he takes the time to read my weekly heartfelt but un-trained offerings.

Still smiling, he added, “… I think I’ve figured out that you’re a grace guy.”

A “grace guy.” I liked that. But then looking at the expression on his face more closely, I felt compelled to inquire, lightheartedly, “Is that OK?”

“Um, yeah!” he responded, still smiling but with a moment’s hesitation.

Noticing the pause and myself not being one to miss a sardonic opportunity, I asked, “Do you prefer punishment?” He laughed and said, “No! … Well … maybe.”

I responded, with a wink. “Well, it does help to control the flock.” Then it was time to go into the service and that conversation was over. But it got me to thinking …

The Apostle Paul wrote 13 books of the New Testament and in every one he offers the greeting, “Grace and Peace.” Jesus, in the Gospels, is constantly telling us He is the truth, the way to God, the life of God, and in so many words, the face of God. Jesus came to help, not to harm; yes, to set us free from our sin but mysteriously to “enslave” us in His own goodness, protection, and love. Punishment? No.

It is beyond weird that a “slave” in this life who finds Jesus is set free (think of worldly sinners), and a free person who finds Jesus becomes a slave (think of Paul). And I’m not talking about the slave trade; I’m talking about humanity’s spiritual tendency to bind itself to evil because of fear, guilt, greed, pride, and self-righteousness, with a perpetual sense of inadequacy or debt when it comes to an encounter with goodness.

Jesus, you see, is goodness. Jesus knows what is best for us. Jesus, Son of God who is also God – another mystery – models God’s plan of self-sacrificial love that defeats evil.

Jesus is our only “way” out. He is the “truth” we can trust. He is the “life” we can live in freedom now and in God’s eternity forever. Jesus didn’t “trade” His life for ours; He showed us perfect love and obedience. His lesson isn’t what we “owe” for our sins; His lesson is what we must do, how we must love, and how we must obey.

My life goes sour when debts overwhelm me. I know what it is to be bankrupt. The parables of Jesus not only teach us about the Kingdom of Heaven but they also instruct us in the impossibility of repaying divine gifts. Think of the overwhelming amounts in the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:21-35). The lesson is not the enormous amount; the lesson is the enormous mercy – and justice – of the master.

Praise God for the enormous mercy of our master, Jesus. Praise God that what Jesus desires is not repayment or guilt, but that He blesses our faith in Him and our love, mercy, and compassion for others. Guilt never builds a loving relationship.

In Matthew 11, quoted above, Jesus invites the weary to rest in Him. His well-fitting yoke helps us work together easily and productively. His demands are worthy and uncomplicated: “Follow me.” The greater we trust, the greater we love. Grace abounds.

I would not trade that love – or grace – for anything.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) is thankful, not burdened, by Jesus. It is the world that is a burden, and the world that demands repayment. Grace is divine.

999 - Some of the Reasons

674 - 'Grace Guy'

Archives

Labels

Popular Posts