Following Jesus Isn’t as Easy as People Make It Sound

Once, I got angry with God.

Yes, just like you read it.

I was angry with Him. I questioned Him about so many things. I couldn’t understand why He had allowed certain experiences in my life, why some people could cause so much pain, or why, if He was supposed to be there, there had been so many moments when I felt like I was walking alone.

But sometime later, I realized something:

Maybe I wasn’t only angry with God.

I was angry with life.
With certain people.
With humanity.
And also with myself.

Over time, I had to learn to separate those things.

There were decisions I made whose consequences were my responsibility. I had to acknowledge them without making excuses.

But there were also things that happened to me when I was a child that were not my fault.

And then there was a third truth, perhaps one of the hardest to accept:

I have no control over what other people do, say, or think about me.

Understanding those three things also changed the way I looked at my faith.

Being a Christian Doesn’t Mean Being Perfect

Sometimes it feels as though the moment you say you are a Christian, you are immediately placed under a microscope.

If you lose your patience: “Aren’t you supposed to be a Christian?”

If you get angry: “Look at the way she behaves.”

If you make a mistake: “Christians are all the same.”

And yes, being a Christian comes with great responsibility. If we say we follow Christ, our actions should reflect what we believe.

But trying to live like Jesus doesn’t mean we magically become Jesus.

We are still human.

We get frustrated. We make mistakes. We say things we later regret. We judge when we shouldn’t. Sometimes we hurt others even when hurting them was never our intention.

And then we have to learn to apologize, repair what we can, and try again.

Perhaps that, too, is part of discipleship.

Not never falling.

But learning to get back up differently.

I’m Not Writing This to Point Fingers Either

It would be easy to write about other people’s mistakes.

About hypocrisy, gossip, criticism, judgmental looks, or all the other things we can sometimes find even within a Christian community.

But then I would be doing exactly what I am questioning.

I have judged too.

I have criticized too.

I have been hurt, and from that place of hurt, I have probably hurt someone else.

So I am not writing from a pedestal.

I am writing from the journey.

Following Jesus Isn’t as Easy as People Make It Sound

Because following Him is not simply about going to church, reading Scripture, singing a hymn, or saying that we believe in Him.

The difficult part begins when we have to take those words and live them in real life.

Forgiving when it still hurts.

Choosing not to return an offense when we already have all the words ready to fire back.

Admitting when we were the ones who were wrong.

Loving someone who thinks completely differently from us.

Letting go of the need to control what other people do.

And learning that having faith doesn’t mean we will never have questions.

I had questions.

I was angry.

I even fought with God.

And strangely enough, that fight didn’t end up pushing me away from Him.

It helped me understand myself.

Today, I don’t believe following Jesus means walking through life pretending to be perfect.

I believe it means walking through life knowing that we still have so much to learn.

Fall.

Acknowledge.

Forgive.

Ask for forgiveness.

Get back up.

And keep walking.

Because perhaps being a disciple was never about saying:

“Look at me. I’m perfect now.”

Perhaps it has always been about saying:

“I’m still learning how to follow Him.”

Seguir a Jesús no es tan fácil como lo pintan

Una vez me peleé con Dios.

Sí, así como lo lees.

Estaba enojada con Él. Le reclamé muchas cosas. No entendía por qué había permitido ciertas experiencias en mi vida, por qué algunas personas podían hacer tanto daño y por qué, si se suponía que Él estaba ahí, muchas veces yo había sentido que caminaba sola.

Pero tiempo después comprendí algo: Quizas no estaba enojada solamente con Dios.

Estaba enojada con la vida.
Con algunas personas.
Con la humanidad.
Y también conmigo misma.

Con el tiempo tuve que aprender a separar las cosas.

Hubo decisiones cuyas consecuencias sí fueron responsabilidad mía.

Tuve que reconocerlas sin excusas.

Pero también hubo cosas que me sucedieron cuando era pequeña que no fueron mi culpa.

Y hubo una tercera verdad, quizá una de las más difíciles de aceptar: no tengo control sobre lo que otras personas hacen, dicen o piensan de mí.

Comprender esas tres cosas cambió también mi manera de mirar mi fe.

Ser cristiano no significa ser perfecto

A veces pareciera que cuando dices que eres cristiano inmediatamente quedas bajo una lupa.

Si pierdes la paciencia: “¿Y no que era cristiana?”

Si te enojas: “Mira cómo se comporta.”

Si cometes un error: “Todos los cristianos son iguales.”

Y sí, ser cristiano implica una gran responsabilidad. Si decimos que seguimos a Cristo, nuestras acciones deberían intentar reflejar lo que creemos.

Pero intentar vivir como Jesús no significa convertirse mágicamente en Jesús.

Seguimos siendo humanos.

Nos frustramos. Nos equivocamos. Decimos cosas que después lamentamos. Juzgamos cuando no deberíamos hacerlo. A veces herimos incluso cuando nuestra intención no era herir.

Y después tenemos que aprender a pedir perdón, reparar lo que podamos y volver a intentarlo.

Porque quizá ahí también está una parte importante del discipulado.

No en nunca caer.

Sino en aprender a levantarnos de una manera diferente.

Yo tampoco escribo esto para señalar

Sería muy fácil escribir sobre los errores de otros.

Sobre la hipocresía, los chismes, las críticas, las malas miradas o todas esas cosas que también podemos encontrar dentro de una comunidad cristiana.

Pero entonces estaría haciendo exactamente aquello que estoy cuestionando.

Yo también he juzgado.

Yo también he criticado.

Yo también he estado herida y, desde esa herida, probablemente he herido a alguien más.

Por eso no escribo desde un pedestal.

Escribo desde el camino.

Seguir a Jesús no es tan fácil como lo pintan

Porque seguirlo no significa solamente ir a una iglesia, leer las Escrituras, cantar un himno o decir que creemos en Él.

Lo difícil comienza cuando tenemos que llevar esas palabras a la vida real.

Perdonar cuando todavía duele.

No devolver una ofensa cuando tenemos todas las palabras listas para hacerlo.

Reconocer cuando fuimos nosotros quienes nos equivocamos.

Amar a alguien que piensa completamente diferente.

Dejar de querer controlar lo que otros hacen.

Y aprender que tener fe tampoco significa que nunca tendremos preguntas.

Yo tuve preguntas.

Tuve enojo.

Incluso me peleé con Dios.

Y, curiosamente, aquella pelea no terminó alejándome de Él.

Terminó ayudándome a comprenderme a mí misma.

Hoy no creo que seguir a Jesús sea caminar por la vida fingiendo perfección.

Creo que es caminar sabiendo que todavía tenemos muchísimo que aprender.

Caer.

Reconocer.

Perdonar.

Pedir perdón.

Volver a levantarnos.

Y seguir caminando.

Porque quizá ser discípulo nunca significó decir: “Mírame, ya soy perfecta.”

Quizá siempre significó decir: “Todavía estoy aprendiendo a seguirlo.”

Learning to Be Disciples of Jesus Christ

A few days ago, I heard a phrase that stayed with me.

It was during the setting apart of a young woman who was preparing to leave on her mission. As our stake president spoke about her calling, he explained something that seemed simple at first, yet made me think deeply:

Missionaries go out to help others become disciples of Jesus Christ.

Not simply to learn about a Church.

Not simply to learn doctrine.

Not simply to be baptized.

But to become disciples of Jesus Christ.

Ever since then, I have been thinking a lot about that word: disciple.

Jesus taught:

“If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.”

— John 8:31

And I began to understand that being a disciple is not simply saying, “I believe in Jesus Christ.”

It is learning to live as He taught us to live.

It is asking myself, especially when life becomes difficult:

How would a disciple of Christ respond to what I am going through right now?

Because it is relatively easy to talk about faith when everything is going well.

True discipleship begins to reveal itself when adversity comes.

When someone disappoints us.

When our plans do not turn out the way we expected.

When we wait for an answer that takes much longer than we hoped.

When we experience frustration, loneliness, or sadness.

When we lose something—or someone—we love.

Even when we face death.

Being disciples of Jesus Christ does not mean that these experiences will stop hurting.

Christ never promised us a life without tears.

What He offers us is something different: we do not have to go through them alone, and we do not have to go through them in the same way.

A disciple cries too, but holds on to hope.

A disciple may feel disappointed, but learns to forgive.

A disciple may be afraid, but continues walking in faith.

A disciple may not understand why something is happening and still choose to trust God.

A disciple may lose someone deeply loved and experience tremendous sorrow, yet still look beyond death because of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps that is why discipleship is not learned simply by reading about Christ.

We learn discipleship by trying to live as Christ would when life puts us to the test.

Mormon was able to say: “I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.”

What a simple statement—and yet, what a powerful one.

And it made me ask myself:

Could I say the same?

Not simply, “I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

But:

“I am learning to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.”

Perhaps that is one of the most important purposes of our lives.

To learn to know Him.

To learn to trust Him.

To learn to love as He loves.

To learn to forgive as He forgives.

And little by little, experience after experience, adversity after adversity, to become a little more like Him.

Because perhaps our trials do not become smaller when we follow Christ.

Perhaps it is we who, by walking with Him, learn to face them differently.

And then we begin to understand that being a disciple of Jesus Christ is not simply a way of believing.

It is a way of living.