I’m excited to share this beautiful guest post with you written by Christine Hill about why we might hold back from living a Christ-Centered Life. 
3 Barriers to a Christ-Centered Life
By: Christine Hill
We’re told, “be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim 4:12). Recently, I took a trip to my hometown for an old friend’s wedding. It was a great weekend, full of catching up with old friends. As the only mormon in the group, I suddenly remembered what it was like to feel like you’re under constant scrutiny. I had to ask myself if I was being an example of the believers. Did my life reflect the truths I knew? Did my words, charity, and my spirit? It was important to me that my identity as a mormon had to do with more than the fact that I wasn’t drinking alcohol at the wedding.
It’s the nature of mortality that there are distractions and limitations keeping us from becoming the person that we want to be. We know that the struggle isn’t going to be over anytime soon, but we also seek every day to build a life that puts Christ at its center. What are the factors that keep us from being an example? From leading a Christ-centered life? Here are a few things that I’ve zeroed in on lately:
1: Addictions and Diet
This one is a tough category, because either we think that it doesn’t apply for us (we don’t have any socially or legally acknowledged addictions) or it dominates our lives. However, I think this is an important topic for everyone, and I’d like to expand the definition of addiction to “anytime our bodies and habits are calling the shots.” One of the points of this life on earth is to overcome the natural man. That means more than abstaining from illegal substances.
Elder Packer said, “What you learn spiritually depends, to a degree, on how you treat your body.” Every day, clinical studies are learning more about how diet and exercise affects our thought processes, our mood, clarity, and creativity. It also affects our spirit.
The good news is that even though addictions and physical vices can affect our spirit, spirituality itself can also be the means of overcoming those problems. Acknowledgement of a higher power and mentalities that nurture spirituality have long proven to be the most effective methods in overcoming addiction. It’s important to recognize that it’s not just about self-control, but about bringing our weaknesses to heaven’s throne and trusting ourselves to divine power instead of the world’s solutions for our problems.
2: Apathy and Isolation
The qualifying attribute of people of Christ in any time is charity. But how can we be filled with charity if we don’t serve–if we can’t see or connect with those around us in the first place? Charity requires us to engage, to pay attention and care about others. I think the biggest trial of our generation is apathy. We can’t be bothered to care, to try, to invest ourselves in… well, just about anything. And when we do care, it’s often more about drama than honest human compassion.
We’re afraid to take risks, we’re afraid of people thinking we’re awkward, we’re afraid of rejection. We have an amazingly low risk tolerance for social stigmas. We need to overcome that if we’re going to center our lives in Christ. We need to be willing to risk for others–not just daring heroic risks, but also the daily risks of rejection, scorn, and judgement. We need to be willing to put ourselves out there. Only then can we connect with people and learn their inner struggles and how we can answer them.
3: Depression and Self-Doubt
Along with this fear of rejection comes another dilemma of our day: cripplingly low self-esteem. I don’t mean being humble. I mean that thing that we do where we obsess about ourselves and our inadequacies. Obsession with yourself in any form has nothing to do with humility, and it’s the antithesis of charity. But what do we do when all of our insecurities and self-doubts come pounding at the door?
Think about the two great commandments that Christ shared: First, love god. Second, love your neighbor as yourself. I think that those two commandments are based in two essential truths: (1) God loves you, (2) Every person in the world is of great worth to him (including you!). We’re supposed to “abide” in him–and in his Atonement. With this comes a constant awareness that he sacrificed for our sins–that he deemed you WORTH that sacrifice, and that his love is sufficient for you and all your weaknesses. This awareness should be part of our daily pattern of thoughts, something that we always hold close when attacks from without and from within barrage our self-worth.
The way we feel about ourselves inevitably affects our relationships with others. Remember that self-care is an essential part of service and provident living.
