The Long Hard Road, Part 1: Glory to Come

"The hardest thing that you will ever decide upon is leading a Godly and pure life."

~Tim Gillmore (A pastor at my church)

It's true. Leading a Christian life is hard. It can be hard in different ways. The first that comes to mind is being persecuted. Most of the apostles died cruel deaths. Christians today are still beaten and persecuted for their faith.

It is hard to even pursue God. We are still sinners, we still sin. It is hard to not hate that person for what they wanted to do to me. It is much harder to forgive them later. It is hard to turn the other cheek.

Yet, we still try to lead a Christian life. Why? I have a dual answer. The first is the glory to come.

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

~Romans 8:18

These words were spoken by a man who truly knew suffering. Paul was whipped, beaten, and shipwrecked multiple times for his faith. He was stoned once and later was beheaded for leading a Christian life.

He knew the joy there was in Christ and how much more there would be when he saw Christ in glory face to face. Let us look forward to eternity with Christ. Then we will have the excessive joy of seeing the One who saved us, cares for us, and loved us to the point of death, at last, face to face.