Jesus Is ______: Find a New Way to Be Human

by Judah Smith

We are worn out and desperately in need of rest. Not physical rest. We need spiritual rest. We need peace with God and with ourselves.

Bottom line: they had missed the point of the law. They thought the point was being good and doing good. But it wasn’t. The point was Jesus.

There is nothing more uncomfortable for people than a constipated Christian.

God wanted people to do their best, of course, but ultimately he wanted them to know they needed a Savior,

Being a Christian is not about being good. It’s about relationship.

When you’ve heard the gospel, you get obsessed with Jesus, because it points to him.

I was never worthy in the first place. It’s not about me. It’s about God, about grace, and about helping people in my church and my city meet Jesus.

God is not in a hurry to fix us. Our behavior is not his first priority. We are his first priority. Loving us is his main concern.

We spend most of our lives working furiously toward goals that, when achieved, turn out to hold less substance than a Twinkie.

It’s about God. Focusing on God brings meaning to our lives.

I’ve forgotten what is important. I’ve lost sight of Jesus. I’ve let the pressures and disappointments of life hijack my thoughts.

Once Jesus is the focal point

Priorities fall into place,

Some people tie their emotional stability—or lack thereof—to family.

Desiring happiness, peace, and joy is not wrong. But how we pursue them is important.

Some of us are passionate about telling people about Jesus, but we freak them out because we never learned how to smile.

If you say you preach the gospel but there is no great joy, I’d say there is a problem with your gospel.

a church that reflects real life,

Jesus is really good at saving people. I’m not. So I’m going to let him do that, if you don’t mind.

And we sneak up behind them and dunk their heads in a bowl, and we feel better about ourselves.

Lo hacemos por nosotros mismos

If your joy level is low, ask yourself what kind of news you are listening to.

Something is wrong when we call ourselves Christians but we practically have an aneurysm just trying to crack a smile.

The problem isn’t a lack of sleep; it’s a lack of joy.

whatever you can do, Jesus can do better.

The more we obsess about our problems, our weaknesses, and our deficiencies, the more we perpetuate them. It’s ironic but true.

Religion says that obedience brings acceptance. The gospel teaches the opposite: acceptance brings obedience.

God doesn’t want us to make life about our amateur efforts at holiness. He wants us to enjoy life. We only get one, after all.

I am happier because I am holy, and it’s easier to be holier because I am happy.

We don’t live under the law, which kept God and man separate.

Some might call John’s statements arrogant, but John didn’t care. Neither did God, apparently—it’s in his book. John defined his identity through Jesus’s love. I find that fascinating.

It’s not about how much we love God. It’s about how much he loves us.

It seems the people nearest Jesus had an overwhelming awareness of his love for them. Maybe we should take a hint.

Las personas que te rodean deben saber cuánto las amas

Confused? That’s okay. God has it figured out. He’s not having an identity crisis because we don’t understand him completely.

In the darkest part of your journey, the thing that will keep you full of life, peace, and happiness is the gospel.

Jesus doesn’t scorn our grief. He weeps with us.

Jesus is there for us when we need him most—whether we know it or not and whether we appreciate it or not.

He wanted us to be able to pull our own strings, to make our own choices. He knew that forced love is not love at all.

The best definition I’ve heard for sin is missing the mark. There is a mark. God established it. And we have all missed it.

Can life in sin be called living? Not really. Sure, we’re breathing. Sin will let us breathe for a while—but it will never let us truly live. That’s how sin works.

Jesus is the only man who has ever truly lived, because sin had no hold on him. It’s sin that sucks the life out of our existence.

but God doesn’t rescue us from the death of sin just so we can help him out. He doesn’t need our help. He just wants to love us.

Jesus didn’t give his life to promote a moral code of conduct.

The first position of a believer is not walking. It’s not pacing. It’s not marching. It’s not sprinting madly from one activity to the next. It’s sitting.

God sees character flaws in me that I don’t even see, and he is not stressed about it.

God is not in a hurry to fix us. Our behavior is not his first priority. We are his first priority.

Yes, these sins are real. But they do not define us.

The real me is the righteous me, and that is more real than sin could ever be.