Check out this great article I came across via Trevin Wax.
Leo Tolstoy, a russian philosopher, best known for his novel War and Peace, pursued (unsuccessfully) moralistic perfection in his faith. Is this what we are really teaching? Do we teach the bible solely so we can be better people? The Gospel is about much more than fixing our behavior! The great misinterpretation of the christian faith, that Tolstoy also believed, is that we must try harder to be accepted by God!
“Children and students, indeed all of us, are incapable of living the Christian life in our own merit. We are utterly unable to transform ourselves. Because of this simple truth, transformation is not about trying; it is about dying. The apostle Paul knew that transformation occurs when we continually die to ourselves and trust the grace of Christ fully: “For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Cor. 4:11).”
I love that sentence. “Transformation is not about trying; it is about dying.” Check out this article and see if you agree with the conclusions!
