Why does following Jesus “work” 2
Continued from a previous post
Gratitude
Thankfulness and forgiveness
Thankfulness is a happier way to live. It’s hard to be thankful and unhappy at the same time. Similarly, if I am full of resentment and a desire for vengeance, I’m not likely to be as happy as if I’ve learned to forgive those who have wronged me. The former is grist for the vengeful, stock villain of movies and novels. Depending on the biases of the filmmakers, the latter comes across heroically and with an ability to transcend the trials of life. Thankfulness as a habit of mind brings peace and contentment.
Personal fulfillment
Living according to Christ’s ways yields joy in unexpected ways. In the memorably entitled “Aha! Call It the Revenge of the Church Ladies,” an article published in USA Today and based upon a University of Chicago study reported that “religious women experience significantly higher levels of sexual satisfaction than non-religious women” (Phillips). Who says that Christians are no fun?
Love for others
A few years ago, I took a trans-Pacific flight to visit my son in China. I was seated next to a Chinese young man who was traveling home after a semester in a California school. As our conversation unfolded, I learned that he was angry with Christians in general, and one woman in particular, for messing up his relationship with his girlfriend. Apparently, the older woman had advised his girlfriend to break off the relationship with this young man and she complied. He was really wounded and angry. Of course, I was only hearing the young man’s side of the story, and he felt quite justified in condemning Christians as meddlesome and ill-willed. I asked him about his own religion and he didn’t really subscribe to one, he said, except it adamantly wasn’t Christianity. I asked him what Jesus had done or said with which he disagreed. After a moment’s thought he replied quite sincerely, “Love your enemies.” I laughed and said, “Yes, that’s a hard one! Would you agree, though, that this world would be a better place if we followed that direction?” Reluctantly, he acknowledged that this was true.
The conclusion of this series of three blog articles appears next.
This blog post is an excerpt from my recently published book, Is Jesus Real? available on Amazon in print and Kindle.
