Whenever you practice a skill, a sport, an instrument, you generally find you get better. The early days are rough, but if you stick to it and work hard, you find you get better at it. You develop proficiency and a depth of experience that sets you apart. I’m an expert. No brag, just fact.

It doesn’t work like that in Christianity.

Do you know what’s going to happen to you after you die? That’s more important than staying alive because you know you can’t live here forever.

It’s especially important to know where you’re going when you die if you know you are a failure. Where do failures go when they die?

The good news is that we can know where we go when we die.

Jesus gave a new commandment to His disciples. Love one another, even as I have loved you. That extends to laying down one’s life for one’s friends.

It’s common to think two things about love. One is, love, I can do that, I’m cool with that. Two, love everybody? That’s unreasonable. He’s asking too much.

The problem is that we underestimate what love is, and we overestimate ourselves.

Christianity is about getting saved. What are we saved from?

One danger is the wrath of God. Jesus saves by taking the wrath of God upon Himself. If we don’t receive Jesus, we are guilty before God and there is nothing we can do to save ourselves from His righteous wrath against sin.

Another danger to be saved from is the domination of Satan. He has the whole world lying in his grasp. Jesus said now is the ruler of this world cast out. But what if we don’t receive Jesus to save us?