The Easy Way, The Best Way

I have the privilege of introducing our speaker, and I

cand of tell you how I came to know him

a little bit. Travis raise your hand back there. Mentioned

him to me and my wife and I took one

Sabbath off. We went to York, Pennsylvania, where Ryan Musser

was speaking at a Pathfinder event and the subject was

on Daniel one righteous living, a call to commitment, and

I was so impressed with that the leadership of our

church decided we'd like to have him come and preach

one Sabbath here. And I will say this is that

as we were listening to his sermon, we were both

thinking of our son, John Michael, and just the similarities

were really amazing. But both of us thought to ourselves, Wow,

you know his parents must really be proud of him.

So Ryan, I don't want to talk to I just

want to give God the glory for the giftedness he's

given you in ministry. You come up here and you

open the Word of God and lead us to Jesus today.

If you would thank.

You here there we go.

Can you bring me down just a hair? It's great

to be here in reaching hearts. You got a beautiful church,

a beautiful facility and beautiful people.

Amen. I thought that would have gotten amen.

So a few months ago or maybe over a year ago,

I preached a series through what I consider.

To be.

The most beautiful sermon ever preached, and that's the Sermon

on the Mount.

And the fourth part of that.

Series that I did, or actually it was the fifth part,

was so impactful for me as I was studying it

and as I gave it, I wanted to give you

that today. So I'm really looking forward to thank you

so much for those of you that have welcomed me

and been very friendly. Thank you so much, smiling faces

and handshakes. Everybody's been really nice.

So if there's been.

Any if there is anybody here that's not very nice,

I encourage you. Please don't ruin my expectations or my

impressions of this church.

I'm just kidding.

Of course, I'm sure everybody here is very friendly. So

what we'll do is we'll pray and then we will

open the Word together. Is that okay, Father and Heaven,

Thank you so much. Thank you for your Sabbath, thank

you for this beautiful church. Thank you Lord for the

promise of your Holy Spirit.

Father.

We ask in a special way that you would be

with us right now. And we know that you've been

with us already through the children's story and through the

prayers and the offering and the songs. But Lord, as

we open your word, we need you in a fresh way.

So please open our hearts be with us in Jesus name.

Amen.

So, as I mentioned, this is the tail end of

a series that I gave a few years ago, about

a year year and a half ago. So go with

me to Matthew chapter seven. One of my favorite sections

in scripture is Matthew chapters five, six, and seven. Matthew

chapters five, six, and seven. So go with me to

Matthew chapter seven. And I want to undermine one of

the things that we sometimes.

Struggle with believing.

So today the presentation is titled the Easy Way, the

Best Way.

We'll see if this clicker works, there we go, nice

and easy. There we go.

Sometimes I'll go to churches and their clicker won't work.

But we're gonna start here in Matthew chapter seven. If

you have your Bible opened, say I'm there, okay, Matthew

chapter seven. We're gonna start. In verse thirteen, it says

enter by the narrow gate. For wide is the gate,

and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and

there are many who go in by it, because narrow

is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads

to life. And there are how many few who find it.

So Jesus is starting to wind down this sermon on

the mount and he's making an appeal. He's closing threads,

he's bringing points home, and he's making this appeal. And

he says, many people will find the wide way. There's

a capaciousness to the wide way. There's many people will

be there, but there's also a narrow and it says

that few people will find it. Now, if you lived

in the days of Jesus, there were in a city,

there were usually two gates, two ways that you could

enter the city. Now I have a question for you,

why would you not have ten or fifteen gates or

entrance points to a city?

Tell me anybody know? For safety and security.

So you'd have one gate at the at the beginning

or the opening of the city, and it would be

a huge gate, a large gate that's where all of

the traffic would go through. The merchants would come in

and they'd sell for the day and.

Then they'd leave. But there was also a gate all the.

Way at the back, so if you were behind the city,

you didn't have to go all the way to the front,

and this gate at the back would be the small gate.

Are you with me? So far right so? And what

are the walls for? We just talked about this just

a minute ago. The walls are for what They're for security,

they're for safety. So there's two gates, and Jesus here

is saying, if you're going to enter the gate, you're

probably going to enter through the wide gates. It takes

this intentionality to go to the back. It takes purposefulness, intentionality.

You have to do it on purpose. If you're gonna

drift with the crowd, which gate are you gonna end up?

In?

The wide gates? But here's the thing.

I think many of us we've read this verse and

we've misunderstood what Jesus is trying to say. I don't

know if you've ever believed this, but oftentimes when I

talk with people, this is the impression they have. They say, Wow,

it's gonna be so hard, not just about this verse,

but many verses. It's gonna be so hard to get

to heaven. And so few people are gonna make it.

I mean just fifteen or twenty at the most. So

few people are gonna make it to heaven. It's gonna

be so few, and it's gonna be so hard. I'll

probably never make it. Only the saintliest of the saints

and the best of the best are really gonna make

it to heaven. Me I don't really stand a chance.

But that cannot be what Jesus is saying, because look

at this in Matthew chapter eight. Just go over one chapter.

Maybe you don't even have to turn the page. In

Matthew chapter eight, Jesus comes down off the sermon on

mount and he's talking with a Roman centurion and he

says this in Matthew chapter eight, verse ten.

When Jesus heard it.

He marveled and said to those who follow followed assuredly.

I say to you, I have not found such great faith,

not even in Israel. And I say to you that,

what's the word? Oh, you gotta say it, louder. I

say to you that many will come from the East

and the West and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and

Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven. He's not saying that

this is narrow because so few people are going to

be in heaven. He's saying it's narrow and it's hard

because you don't get there if you're just drifting. In fact,

watch this verse. This is one of my favorite verses

in the Book of Revelation. I looked and behold a

great multitude which no one can number. Can you say,

I'm under that of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues,

standing before the throne and before the lamb, clothed with

white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying

out with a loud voice, saying, salvation belongs to our God,

who sits on the throne and on the lamb and

the lamb. Can you say amen? So, Jesus is actually

not trying to keep people out of heaven. He's trying

to get people into heaven. And Jesus is taking everyone

to heaven that will be happy there. Can you say amen,

jesus desire is that everyone will be there. So again,

when he's saying that it's so hard, he's not saying

there are hundreds of requirements. It's going to be so

hard and only the best, I mean, the pastors and

the elders. No, that's not what he's saying. In fact,

let me just show you a quote. This is a

book that I've read before a few times. As Mby

heard this book, thoughts from the amount of blessing is

inb to be heard of that book before. Yeah, here's

what she says. Do not conclude that the upward path

is hard and the downward path the easy way. All

along the road that leads to death, there are pains, sorrows,

and disappointments.

There are warnings not to go on. She continues.

God's love has made it what is that word hard?

Has made it hard for the headstrong too, what destroy themselves? Yes,

there's so much in that phrase. It is true that

Satan's path is made to appear attractive, but it is

all a deception in the way of evil. There are

bitter remorse and cankering care. So God's love has actually

made it hard hard what.

Hard? To be lost?

God's love has made it hard for people to be lost.

Let me say it this way. God has rigged the

system in your favor and made it as easy as

possible for you to be saved.

Because He's made it hard for the headstrong. Two? What

are those two words? Say it with me? Destroy themselves? Okay,

let me give an example.

When somebody has spent years of their life smoking and

just using tobacco and using cigarettes, does God give them

lung cancer?

Yes?

Or no?

You're like, I don't know how to answer that. Does

God give them lung cancer?

No?

Where does the lung cancer come from from the smoking

from the cigarettes? What about if somebody is just overeating

sugar and overeating things that.

They shouldn't be eating. Does God give them diabetes? Yes?

Or no?

No?

Absolutely not. Where does it come from? It comes from

their diet.

So, in this way, God's love has actually made it

hard for the headstrong to destroy themselves. And I love

this last phrase. I'll read it again. It is true

that Satan's path is made to appear attractive. It is

all a deception.

In the way of.

Evil, there are bitter remorse and cankering care. God is

not playing hide and seek, and he's not playing hard

to get. We have to remind ourselves of this. This

is a verse that I really love. In Proverbs chapter thirteen,

it says the way of the transgressor is hard. The

way of the transgressor is hard, but Jesus ways are

ways of pleasantness, and all his paths are peace. We

just need to remind ourselves over and over again. God's

way is not the hard way. God's way is the

easy way. Now, some people are and I've gotten some

pushback in the past from some people. Some people are

bound to say, well, when you follow God, Satan is

attacking you more.

There is truth to that.

There are people who appear to have an easy life

because as long as they're in Satan's camp, he'll leave

them alone.

Is that true? Yes or no?

Okay, So there's a sense in which following God is

the hard way, but a tough life with God is

better than an easy life without him. And I would

contend it's not even an easy life. It's not an

easy life because well, just think about this. Sometimes I'll

encounter people who will be non believers, and they'll say

things like, man, why would I want to get married?

Why would I want to take on all of this restriction,

all of this because the way forward is all of

the novelty. Think about all the people that I can

sleep with and do things with, all of the novelty.

To the non believer, that looks like the way forward.

But as soon as you get on the inside of

a marriage, a good marriage, you know that's actually freedom.

If you've been blessed by your marriage, just raise your

hand for me. Marriage is one of the best things

that's happened to me in my life. And sometimes when

you talk to a non believer, I'm just using marriage

as an example as a metaphor here. When you talk

to non believers, they'll say things like, oh, why would

I want to take this restriction? I have so many

people that to the person that has lovers here, there

and everywhere, to the adulterer, the philanderer, it looks like restriction,

a giant restriction to take, oh, one woman for the

rest of my life, one man for.

The rest of my life.

But as soon as you get on the inside, you know, wow,

there's a lot of elbow room in here. Being in

a good marriage that actually makes me happier and more free.

And marriage here as a metaphor for the Christian life.

When you look at God's law, you think, oh, man,

all those laws.

That I have to keep.

But you get on the inside and you realize, actually,

there's a lot of freedom in this because God's way

is the best way, and God's way is the easy way.

And again I get that there's a sense in which

God's way is hard because you have to deny yourself,

and there's self denial and Satan is going to attack you.

But God's ways are ways of peace, and God's ways

the best way. Here's our scripture text. Remember, my yoke

is what's the word easy, and my burden is light

if he has a burden and it's light.

As our sister was.

Doing the children's story up here, I just love the

description of the yoke. And we're not talking about eggs.

We're talking about the yoke, the yoke that the oxen

would wear, and how many oxen would wear it too.

Okay, So if Jesus'.

Burden is light and you are in the yoke with

him who's doing the pulling, that's because Jesus has saved

you and you're along for the ride. You commit your

life to him, and his way is the easy way,

in the best way. His burden is light because he's

the one that's doing all the heavy lifting. Again, the

way of the transgressor is hard. The way of the

transgressor is hard. So go with me to Psalms Chapter

one nineteen. I want to show you a verse here

that I absolutely love. Psalms chapter one nineteen. So God

is not saying while you're turning there, God is not saying,

don't do these things because they're fun and I don't

want you to have fun. He says, don't do these

things because these things are poisonous to you. Don't do

these things because these things are harmful to you. These

things kill you. God's ways are ways of pleasantness and peace.

Psalms chapter one nineteen. We're gonna read in verse thirty two.

If you're there, say I'm there. Psalms chapter one nineteen.

It says, I will run the course of your commandments

for you will enlarge my heart.

I will What does he say? I will run the

course of your commandments? Okay?

I just want you to think of Think of your bedroom. Okay,

think of the place where you go to sleep.

Okay. Can anybody run in their bedroom? Why not? Because

it's too small. Can you run in a jail cell?

No?

Okay.

When you think of a place that you can run,

he says, remember, I will run the course of your commandments.

When you think of places you can run, where are

some places that you can run outside in a field

and a place where there's lots of space. If I

can run the course of God's commandments, what does that mean?

That means there's a lot of freedom there, and you

will enlarge my heart. Something about following God's way actually

enlarges your capacity for freedom and for happiness. Satan tricks

you and makes you think, Man, so many rules. It's

gonna be so hard. Once I get to heaven, it's

gonna be great, But right now it's gonna be so hard.

I mean, all these rules that I have to follow.

In fact, when the religious leaders of Jesus Day they

came and they talked to him. You remember this moment,

they say, hey, what's the most important rule? Because they

would have these debates, and this was a common one

that the religious leaders. They would have what's the most

important rule? And you remember what Jesus says, The most

important rule is to what? Oh, you got to say

it louder? Why are you guys so quiet? You know

the answer to this, right, The most important rule is

to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul.

And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. Okay,

but since when is love a rule? What's the most

important rule? Fall in love with God, isn't it. It's

a little bit romantic, it's borderline romantic. If you fall

in love with God somehow, that will actually enable you

to keep the rules, the rules, commandments that God is

already telling you are already better for you. You don't

have the capacity and your own strength to keep these things.

By nature, we are sinful. We are very hard hearted

in Satan. We have a satanic nature inherently. But if

you fall in love with Jesus, I want you to

imagine this scenario. Imagine so I have three children. Imagine

in the morning, my kids come in, you know, they

wake up, and we come, Hey, guys, let's just review

the rules for this morning. Okay, we're just gonna review

the rules. Okay, maybe you did this with your own kids.

Okay. Number one, do not throw things at your brother. Okay.

Rule number two, don't kick your sister. So I have

an eight year old girl and a three year old boy,

a three and a half year old boy, So you

can tell there's some contention in there, right, don't take

food into the living room, and then you know, I

go through some more rules, and then in the last one,

I say, okay, here's the last rule, love your dad

and your mom.

Okay, question, is that a rule? No, it's hardly even

a rule. They come to Jesus. What's the most important rule?

Well, if you fall in love with God, all of

the rules will actually fall in their proper place, because

Jesus way is the easy way.

God's way is the best way.

Can you say, amen, Jesus ways will actually enlarge your

capacity for freedom. Let's just think about Adam and Eve

as an example. Let's think about Adam and Eve. When

Adam and Eve we're in the garden. How many fruit

trees do you imagine we're in the garden?

Lots? Okay, give me a number. A million?

Okay, so there's a million fruit trees in the garden.

You got five hundred mango trees. You know, you have

to have mango trees because that's the best fruit, right,

you know, it's the best fruit. Yeah, And you got

a hundred you got a hundred red delicious apple trees.

And you got a hundred of the Gala, and you

got a hundred of the honey crist Okay, cause you got.

A million trees.

Okay, and Eve and Adam is particularly Eve. She could

have went down the line, can I eat from that one?

And well, God, what would he have said?

Yes? And what about that one?

And that one and that one and that one and

that one and a million times? God would have said what,

And then he would have got to the last She

would have got to the last one, and what about

that one? And he would have said no. This lets

us know, and we don't know the number, but we

know it was a lot. This lets us know that

God's preferred way of parenting is to say yes, far

more than he says no. How many of you felt

like it was your parent's job to say no? It's

like a million nos to one yes. Yeah all the

and the kids are like, am I allowed to raise

my hand? God's desire is to say yes. And the

only time he says no is if the answer has.

To be no, are you with me?

And in fact, if he says no, it's because he's

actually saying no to something, because he's saying yes to

something even better. Okay, So let's just take primarital sex

as an example. We'd be like, oh, we can't talk

about sex and church. I think we should talk about

sex and church. Okay, let's talk about primorital sex as

an example. If God says no to primarital sex, he's

actually saying yes to better sex in marriage that you're

eliminating if you have premarital sex.

Are you with me?

Smoking as an example? Okay, I'm just talking about easy examples.

I actually know.

People they've smoked so much that they have lost the

ability to taste. Had a friend of mine sit at

a banquet at a diner and they were serving some food.

The first course came out some strawberries, and she gave

hers to my friend. He said, what you don't want?

Strawberries are amazing. What are you doing? Aren't you hungry?

She said, yeah, I can't even taste them anymore. So

many years of smoking. Okay, So God says no to

smoking because he's actually saying yes to a better life.

So we hear the no.

Remember Eve would have heard that one no, And she thought,

and this is how Satan portrays it, a vast horizon

of no and very limited amount of freedom. But in

fact God has lots of freedom and a very small

liver of no prohibition. God parents more by permission than

by prohibition, and every time he says no, it's because

he's telling you to avoid the things that are heavy,

the burdens.

I mean, there's a lot of.

Guilt and shame and this whole cascade of feeling uncomfortable

when you make a mistake.

Yes or no, Am I the only one who's sinned here?

Right?

Okay?

So I mean think about the example I was using before,

about the womanizer, the philander, the person who has lovers here,

there and everywhere. There's a lot of loneliness there. There's

a lot of pain there. There's a lot of guilt there,

discomfort not to mention all the guilt and the shame

that comes after you've done something that you know is wrong.

And they, oh, this is the way forward. No, that's

not God's way makes you feel happier and more free.

God's way is always the best way. Sometimes I'll hear

well meaning religious people, well meaning religious people, and they'll

say things like, man, I'm struggling as if following God

is hard. And again there's a sense in which is hard,

because take up your cross and deny yourself. I mean,

there's a sense in which is hard. But the way

they're conveying it almost like I have to work so

hard it's like a slog up the hill. I don't

know about you. That has not been my experience. The

more I serve Jesus, the sweeter he grows. It actually

reminds me of this verse we'll skip over that the

path of the just is like the shining sun that

shines what ever brighter unto the perfect day. He just

gets sweeter and sweeter, better and better. And the more

I fall in love with Jesus, the happier I am.

I'm happier now than I was one year ago, and

a year ago I was happier than I was two

years ago. Because the more you serve Jesus, the happier

you get. Jesus just makes life better and better. Sometimes

people will convey it as if it's difficult.

I don't think so.

That has not been my experience. I love serving Jesus.

So let me give you an analogy. Let me give

you an analogy. Let's imagine that you come from another place,

another planet perhaps. Let's imagine you've come from another planet,

and this is your first time here on Earth, and

you're walking through the woods, and as you're walking through

the woods. You stumble upon a hammer. Now, you don't

know what this instrument is, but you pick it up

and you look at it a little bit and you think, oh,

if I smash it against things, it breaks things.

Okay, So this is a tool. This helps me to

do things, get work done. Okay.

So you carry it with you and as you're walking,

now you stumble upon a guitar. This incredible, incredibly beautiful

guitar here, and you don't know what it's for, but

you pick it up and as you're touching the strings,

you say, oh, this makes music. And if I hold

my fingers in this pattern, it makes a different note.

Okay.

So here's what Satan would say. Freedom is the ability

to do whatever you want to do. Freedom is the

ability to take this guitar and use it in the

way that a hammer's meant to be used. Are you

with I bet you're hoping I don't do that. Freedom

is doing whatever I want to do. No, freedom is

being able to do what you were designed to do.

That's real freedom. A hammer is meant to be used

in the way that a hammer's meant to be used

in a guitar, and the same and you were meant

to follow God. Satan says, that's not real freedom because

you don't get to do whatever you want to do.

And God says, I'm telling you the easy way is

the best way. The more you follow God, the happier

you get. The more in love with Jesus you fall,

And the more in love with your friends and community

you fall. The more you love Jesus, the sweeter he gets.

Following God is always the best way.

So go with me. To go with me. Back to

Matthew chapter seven. Matthew chapter seven.

I want to read here a few verses as he

winds down this sermon on the Mount Matthew chapter seven.

Because grace is not a license to sin. Grace is

the only premise on which you can see sin as

what it actually is. So some people will interpret what

I'm saying is say, oh, that looks so dangerous. To

the legalists, that looks dangerous what I've been saying. Okay, Matthew,

chapter seven, Look with me here, we're gonna look in

verse twenty one, are you there, say I'm there. Not

everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the

Kingdom of Heaven. But he who does the will of

my Father in heaven, many will say to me in

that day, Lord, Lord, how have we not prophesied in

your name, cast out demons in your name, done many

wonders in your name?

And I will declare to them, I never what. I

never knew you.

Now you might be thinking, or maybe you've thought before. Oh,

here he goes again. It's so hard to be saved.

I mean, even the pastors, the ones who preach for him,

the prophets, those that cast out demons for Jesus, even

they are gonna miss out because they're just not good enough.

But what does Jesus say at the end.

He says, away from me because I never what, I

never knew you. It's about the relationship with Jesus. And

look at their reflex their reflexes not to say, God,

you are good, their reflexes to say, God, look at

all these things that I've done for you. Here's the list.

Aren't I amazing? Because of all the sermons I've preached

for you, all the Bible studies I've given for you,

all the tie I returned to you, all the demons

I cast out in your name.

I mean, I'm pretty amazing. Look at this.

It's a very long list, I deserve to be in heaven,

and Jesus like, I don't know a system of earning

your way into heaven. I know a system of grace.

I know a system of righteousness by faith. I know

a system of Blessed are the poor in spirits? For

theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. You cannot get to

Matthew chapter seven without going through Matthew Chapter five, verse three,

the very first verse of the whole sermon on the Mount,

Jesus stands up and he says, Blessed are the poor

in spirits. Blessed to those who recognize their spiritual poverty.

Blessed to those who recognize that in them nothing good dwells.

If that's you, then Heaven is your home. Theirs is

the Kingdom of heaven. So these people are not boasting.

Sometimes we read this verse and we think, oh man,

it's gonna be so hard. But let me show you

the opposite. You have nothing to bring to the table.

Go with me to Matthew chapter five twenty five. Sorry,

Matthew chapter twenty five, let me show you the opposite

of what he says here. I think this is really cool.

Matthew chapter twenty five, Matthew chapter twenty five. Maybe some

of you have noticed this connection before. For some of

you it might be new. Here we are in Matthew

chapter twenty five. We're gonna start in verse thirty seven. Matthew,

Chapter twenty five, Verse thirty seven. It says, then the

righteous will answer him, saying, so, for time's sake, we're

not gonna read the whole thing.

I'll just jump here.

Righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see

you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you

a drink? When did we see you as a stranger

and take you in, or naked and clothe you. When

did we see you sick or in prison and come

and say come to you? And the King will answer

and say to them assuredly, I say to you, inas

much as you did it to one of the least

of these, you did it to me.

Did you catch it? So?

Over here you've got one group saying, Jesus, look at

all the amazing things I've done for you. I deserve

to be in heaven. And over here you've got a

group that says, Jesus, I don't even remember. When did

I visit you and take you in? And when did

I give you food? Because they're not self congratulatory, like,

look at all the amazing things I've done. No, they

are more focused on following God and serving God that

it flows out and they literally don't let their left

hand know what their right is doing. They forgot about

all the good things that they had done because their

good works weren't their focus. Their focus was on serving Jesus,

and in doing so, Jesus actually to remind them of

all the good things they had done for him. So

you've got one group over here that thinks I'm awesome.

I deserve to be there. Jesus says, I don't know

the system of earning your way into heaven. Over Here,

you've got a group that completely forgot all the things

they had done for him, and Jesus says, I saw it,

I remembered it. Let me remind you of what you've done.

You've done some really good things for me. The person

who's going to be saved is the person who loves

God and loves others, and in doing that, they will

forget some of the things that they've done for him,

because doing things for him isn't their focus.

It's about doing things for Jesus, not for themselves. Are

you with me?

Jesus In the first one says, I didn't know you.

That's performative, that's religious performance. And the second they were

just living the easy way again serving Jesus. The more

I serve him, the sweeter he grows. So I want

to ask you one question as we finish. What is

the thing that you've been struggling with. What is the sin,

the temptation that you've been struggling with recently? What is

the difficulty that Satan is putting in front of you

and telling you if you do this, your life will

get better. It's all a deception. Satan lies to you. Actually,

on both sides of the sin. Maybe you've noticed this before.

The sin, he says, it's not a big deal. It's

not going to cause you any problems.

In fact, it's gonna make your life better and awesome.

And then on the other side of the sin, when

you make the mistake, he says, Wow, that was such

a big deal.

God will never forgive you. And both of these are lies.

Sin is deadly.

But on the other side, when you've made a mistake,

Jesus is even more amazing. Then sin is deadly right

where sin abounds, grace abounds even much more so. Satan

lies on both sides. He lies on the front side,

and then once you've done it, then he lies on

the backside and says, God will never accept you back

after you've done that. So what is the sin that

Satan has been lying to you about? What is that

thing that you're struggling with? What's the temptation that in

your mind it's not a big deal. I want you

to pray about it this week. I want you to

pray about it this week. I want you to spend

ten minutes this week, ten minutes praying God, please give

me the eyes to see this deception for what it

actually is. This is transgressing against you and against my

brothers and sisters. This is hurting you and hurting myself.

When I choose to follow God, I'm choosing the easiest

way and the best way. Would you bury your heads

with me as we pray, Father in Heaven, help us

to remember that by serving you, we fall more in

love with You and with the people around us, and

when we walk away from you, momentarily we become worse

versions of ourselves. Father, help us to see this thing

for what it actually is. Help us to fall in

love with Jesus, and in doing so, give us the

ability to overcome sins that we cannot do on our own.

We ask this in Jesus name, Amen,