4 common mistakes Christians make

As Christians we are prone to make a few very common mistakes, which can have major destructive consequences (sometimes even more so than the results of common sins), namely:

1.  We tend to underestimate God’s greatness.  God wants us to constantly recognise His greatness.  Or at least progressively grasp part of the extent thereof.  In the Old Testament God regularly ensures His people of His greatness by declaring that He is the Creator and Sustainer of the whole universe.

Paul was convinced that the extent of God’s greatness surpasses our mental capacity.  He therefore prays in his first prayer to the Ephesians that the Holy Spirit must reveal God to us so that we may know Him better (Eph 1:17).  However, if we underestimate God’s greatness then we are living based on inaccurate facts, therefore making wrong decisions and even becoming prone to sin.  As a Christian it is of absolute importance to allow the Holy Spirit to constantly convince us of God’s greatness.

2.  We regularly underestimate God’s closeness and loving involvement in our personal lives.  We fail to identify God’s presence and His working in our daily lives.

Problems and hardship always tend to create the feeling in us that we are alone and that God is not involved or interested in our small personal world.  Israel, during their time of exile, said: “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God” (Is 40:27).  Not true!  The truth is that God repeatedly assured His people with a declaration similar to: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.” (Is 41: 10).  We think we are alone yet Jesus is, through the Holy Spirit,  dwelling  within us.

The heart of worship is to experience the greatness and love of God through the Holy Spirit.  God is closer to us and He is more involved than we can ever imagine: in both the great and small things of our daily existence.

3.  We are not serious enough to do God’s will.  The older I get, the more am I convinced of the truth of God’s Word and the value and importance of living according to Biblical teachings.

We often fall short in doing God’s will because of our doubt of the personal guidance of the Holy Spirit.  We doubt that we are able to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit or that He indeed even talks to us.  How can we obey if we cannot hear?  This mistake sabotages a genuine relationship with Jesus.  We have to accept the responsibility to foster such a relationship with Him, that we are able to hear His voice through the Holy Spirit.

4.  We tend to be excited about our salvation but not about the Lord’s calling for/on our lives.  There is no Christian who does not have a marvelous calling and life-plan from God.  Why then are we not excited about our calling?

God, the Creator of the world and of everyone of us, is on a journey with the world towards a definite purpose.  He is in control and is orchestrating everything for His purpose.   Every Christian is called for a task and destiny planned by God and through Jesus we are recreated and enabled to reach this goal (see Eph 2:10).

Knowing God in His greatness always implies understanding His great calling for us (see Eph 1:17,18).

My prayer is that God, by His grace, protects you from the above wrongs and leads you by the Holy Spirit into the fullness of His truth.

Your friend,

Jan Hattingh