Freedom and salvation in Christ is free, but it will cost us everything. As ironic as this paradox may seem, many Christians find this to be true in their lives. It's not that God throws us into cheap promises, but that when we realise how much Jesus gave for our freedom, we will give everything to Him in worship.
Thinking that being a follower of Christ will cost nothing will lead anyone to disappointment. That's because, truth be told, submitting to God and His laws as a result of adoration and surrender to His grace will be costly.
Many times in my walk with Christ, I have experienced tough and trying times simply because I was a Christian. And many of you will have found this to be true in your own situations. When we refuse to get involved in corruption and extortion in our business practices, we will lose money. When we refuse to conform with popular yet ungodly trends that our friends pressure us to do, we lose reputation and potentially friendships.
Jesus taught in Luke 14:26 tells us, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." That's not to say that God asks us to disrespect, malign or be angry towards our family members, but helps us realise that unless we value Jesus more than anything - even our own families and our own life - we miss the point.
And often we misinterpret this as God being demanding and controlling, but if we truly understood how Jesus has adopted us into His family by His grace from a yoke of slavery, we will be grateful and submissive instead of apprehensive and obliged.
1 Corinthians says it best: "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."
When we choose to follow Christ, it will cost us, but one thing about costs and expenses is that we are always willing to pay the price for things that really matter to us. Most people find no problem in shelling out money for new shoes or new gadgets, but close their fists to the cost of being generous when a call for donations goes out or it means a loss for ourselves.
And sometimes, following Christ will cost us more than just money. Sometimes it will even cost us a life separate of the worldly passions many unbelievers partake in. But all of these things would never compare to the joy, satisfaction, security and provision that is found in Jesus Christ. We may sometimes find it hard and costly to be a disciple of Christ, but compared to the gain we receive in Christ, these costs mean nothing.
Philippians 1:20-21 declares, "as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honoured in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
