Since first becoming ill in October 2013, I’ve been dedicated to memorizing scripture. Reciting prayers & promises has been the best way for me to get through each painful, frightening moment. This year I’m making a full-on effort to memorize & (importantly) RETAIN 52 new verses, one each each week, by following the Redeemed Girl Ministries Scripture Memory Cards (check out Scarlet & Gold shop online to purchase the cards).

This week’s verse is well-known, one that we’ve heard repeatedly in church, yet may have tuned out. It sums up the true meaning of Christianity & translates powerful nuggets of insight through two simple sentences.

John 14:6 “Jesus answered, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

There is ONE path to God. The WAY is through Jesus Christ our Savior. We must believe in Him & His sacrifice. We have to trust that God’s word is absolute TRUTH & only then we will be able to find everlasting LIFE. We discover our best, fullest, most joyful life through a life in service to The Lord.

Pretty simple, right?

Like all aspects of faith, standing up for God’s truth when it’s in question, proclaiming Jesus as the ONLY WAY, advocating for just ONE WAY to Heaven, can be terrifying and quite uncomfortable.

Serving God will never be about comfort. Yes, He desires for us to have fun in life, to have hearts overflowing with joy, & to relish in His amazing creation. Why else would He have created this beautiful universe? However, living by faith is inevitably accompanied with discomfort, suffering for the cross of Christ, & trials of many kinds. The Potter did not mold us, His clay, to lead trouble-free, confrontation-free lives. Truly, it’s far more comfortable to put on blinders to harsh realities & only see rainbows & sunshine. Much more pleasant to convince yourself that everyone you love has a confirmed reservation in God’s kingdom, instead of accepting Biblical truth which teaches that those who don’t believe in the ONE WAY to God, will face an eternity in the place where fire cannot be quenched.

As Believers, we need not be concerned with pleasing everyone or always agreeing in order to avoid discomfort. In modern society it has become popular to promote ideas which encourage us to live in whatever way feels best for you… ideas that God will accept all children into His kingdom as long as they’re polite, nice, & display a moderate sense of morality during their Earthly lives. This world has accepted the fluffy ideology that living for yourself, doing & believing that which feels most comfortable for ME can somehow lead to a beautiful eternity.

Friends, as wonderful & happy-go-lucky as that sounds, wouldn’t that be way too easy? If all of this is true, than was the crucifixion of Jesus even worth it? What would His death stand for if He was merely one choice out of multiple avenues to Heaven?

Yes, we are called to be meek, to be peacemakers (Matt. 5:3-12)
to settle arguments quickly rather than start them (Matt. 5:25) & above all to LOVE others unconditionally. Everyone is entitled to their own unique beliefs, values, & choice of lifestyle. God calls us to love without bounds, to be tolerant of all differences existing between others, to treat everyone with the utmost respect.

John 15:12 “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for a friend.”

Brothers & sisters, we must intentionally caution that God’s truth is not getting lost in this acceptance. Be on your guard/stand firm in the faith/never settle for the lies and deception that Satan tirelessly impresses upon our minds. I am confident in what Jesus says, in fact, I am literally betting my life upon His word, His promises, knowing that He is the way, truth, and the life! Therefore, if I publicly call myself a Christian, I cannot, in good faith, go along with the notion that God is accepting of or pleased by universal faith.

Again, Jesus very clearly states:

“I am the WAY and the TRUTH and the LIFE. No one comes to Father EXCEPT through me.”

ONE Way to God the Father: Jesus Christ. ONE son of God. ONE Heavenly Father. ONE Holy Spirit. ONE book of truth. ONE narrow path to eternity… One tiny road which is actually wide enough to fit the entire world, should we all commit to this path.

All of this considered, I fee it’s crucial for me to emphasize this:

GOD ALONE knows our hearts, He SOLELY has the authority to judge our lives. It is entirely up to the Divine to determine where each of our souls will spend eternity. Never, ever, ever should we place eternal judgement on another. Never, ever, ever should we look down on anyone because they believe differently. Nor should we view ourselves as “holier than thou”, simply because someone has not yet accepted the ONE WAY to life eternal.

However, as believers, God has placed a great responsibility upon our shoulders: To share His love, to reflect His glory— to extract Ultimate Truth from murky puddles of deceit. So what does that look like? This duty translates into speaking UP & speaking OUT in LOVE— campaigning for God’s truth in order to save the souls of all His beloved children.

Jesus did.

At times, Jesus is painted out to be a pushover without a backbone because he was without sin & displayed perfect peace. What a tainted description of our Powerful Savior! Though he never sinned, He also NEVER stood for that which distorted God’s truth. After all, he literally flipped tables when men were using the temple for unholy purposes (Matthew 21/John 2). Jesus NEVER settled for Earthly comfort in order to make life easier or momentarily more pleasant. He unequivocally chose the path less traveled. Christians strive to be Christ-like, therefore, we must follow His example, vowing to unconditionally stand for Truth. Even if that means becoming an outlier from the crowd, experiencing fleeting discomfort, persecution, suffering or being called a “Jesus-Freak.”

John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as it’s own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.”

In closing, my prayer for everyone is this:

• May we not become complacent or okay with preaching deception.
• May we not settle for mantras which promote multiple roads to salvation, when we confidently know there is just ONE WAY.
• I pray that we would love without condition & that we would use that love to propel us to BE BOLD.
• I pray that we would be granted the COURAGE to never settle for strongholds which set themselves up against the knowledge of God.
• And, finally, I pray for CONFIDENCE in Him, to joyfully travel His narrow path, working with all our might to pull others onto this golden sidewalk.

ONE WAY. ONE TRUTH. ONE LIFE.