Is Christianity Hard or Easy?

I recently wrote about how I have failed at spending time with God on a daily basis - and as a result, my heart has not been filled with joy.

John and I committed to doing a devotional together. We are going through the Devotional Classics, Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups. This devotional is made of chapters written by different authors such as C.S. Lewis, Dallas Willard, Jonathan Edwards, Francis de Sales, etc.

Yesterday, we read about Giving All to Jesus.

In Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis says this about the question: How much of Myself Must I Give?

"If you are really going to try to meet all the demands made on the natural self, it will not have enough let over to live on. The more you obey your conscience, the more your conscience will demand of you. And your natural self, which is thus being starved and hampered and worried at every turn, will get angrier and angrier.

In the end, you will either give up trying to be good, or else become one of those people who, as they say, "live for others" but always in a discontented, grumbling way - always wondering why the others do not  notice it more and always making a martyr of yourself. And once you have become that you will be a far greater pest to anyone who has to live with you than you would have been if you had remained frankly selfish."

The pursuit of personal happiness by being morally good, says Lewis, ends in frustration.

This is such a great reminder that I cannot give part of myself to Christ and expect life to go on smoothly. Christ says, "Give me all" - and when I obey I can do all things through Him. If I try to live on my own, being morally good, I will only end up frustrated.

Once again I will say: I need more of Jesus!