For many of us, our world was rocked this week to learn of the untimely death of Jarrid Wilson, a longtime outspoken voice for mental health, by suicide at age 30. Jarrid was an associate pastor at Harvest Church in Riverside, California. (Read more at Religion News Service.)
The article below contains a section which he tweeted not long ago, which has now been shared online countless times. Taken from his blog, this gives the full context.
He ended with a link to Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Love Jesus More Than Anything
The great Charles Spurgeon once said, “If Christ is anything, He must be everything.” And over one-hundred years after these powerful words were written, I believe Spurgeon’s writings are now more than ever, a vibrant truth needed in today’s spiritual climate.
And while many Christians claim this is, in fact, the way they are living, I believe their actions, words, and social media feeds speak differently, even if they’re not necessarily intended to speak this way.
We read throughout the Bible that anything raised above that of Christ is an idol that must be lowered back to its rightful place. Why one may ask? Because the moment we find ourselves talking more about our political party, sexual identity, or possessions more than you do about Christ, we’ve officially made that “thing” a god in your life. It’s become the very thing we worship. It’s become the who and/or what we’ve decided to place our identity in. And that my friends will lead us all down a road of disappointment and brokenness.
The story of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22) is a perfect example of this. God saw how much of an idol Isaac had become in Abraham’s life, so God asks him to prove his loyalty to by sacrificing his son. God, being sovereign and forgiving, stopped Abraham before he could go through with the act, but this wasn’t before he saw Abraham’s heart change and put God back in the rightful place he deserved; above anyone/everything else. God is jealous for us, and he yearns to be our number one priority in life.
If Jesus is really who you call Lord, then shouldn’t he be the very person we talk most about, and live most for? Idols come in various shapes and forms. And we must learn to love Jesus more than anything else in the world, no matter how important or awesome these “other” things might be to us.
Love Jesus More:
- Love Jesus more than your job.
- Love Jesus more than your finances.
- Love Jesus more than your possessions.
- Love Jesus more than your family.
- Love Jesus more than your spouse.
- Love Jesus more than your kids.
- Love Jesus more than your church.
- Love Jesus more than your pastor.
- Love Jesus more than your political party.
- Love Jesus more than your country.
- Love Jesus more than your president.
- Love Jesus more than your ethnicity.
- Love Jesus more than your sexuality.
- Love Jesus more than your sexual identity.
- Love Jesus more than your opinions.
- Love Jesus more than you love yourself.
This type of ideology might not be very popular, but this doesn’t mean it’s not the reality of the Christian life. This is how Jesus intended his followers to live. And the beautiful thing is how fulfilling life becomes when we actually choose to put Jesus over everything and anyone.
Yes, I’m aware it’s quite opposite of what culture and society tell us about living, but remember, we were never called to look or live like the world in the first place. This is Christianity 101. We’re called to be different, look different, shop different, vote different, love different, speak differently, and act differently. We’re called to move contrary to that of the world’s flow. (Romans 12:2)
Put Jesus over everything.
—Jarrid Wilson
Christianity 201 