Finding Balance in Your Walk with Jesus

Rigidity and laxity are difficult obstacles to avoid when trying to
find balance in your faith life. When we treat Christianity as a
project, that leads to rigidity. When we treat Christianity like a
projection, that leads to laxity. If you’re just looking at what
Christians are supposed to do and then following those
instructions, you’re treating your faith like a project and that’s
bound to make you rigid. At the other extreme, if you see Jesus as
a softy or a buddy who’s going to look the other way when you do
the wrong thing, that’s just your projection of who he is. This
mentality is bound to make you lax. How do we escape these two
extremes? Here’s an analogy from Fr. Mike. When a pilot gets ready
to fly a plane, he has a certain trust that the plane will fly, but
he still has to check that everything is working properly before
taking off. Also, he still has to check the controls even as he is
flying and putting his life in the plane’s hands. There is a
symbiotic balance between trust and diligence here. That’s what
walking with Jesus should be like. Let’s take Christ seriously. He
is infinitely loving. Let’s take grace seriously. God’s grace is
infinite. However, it requires application. When you say, “Jesus, I
trust in you” those words should help you not only let go, but also
take a leap of faith and faith without works is dead (James 2:17).