Why do I do things I don't want to do?

Do you ever do something you don't want to do only because you know when it's done you'll feel so good it's over?

We all do things that we don't necessarily want to do. We do them because it's good for us. The benefit, over the long-run, will be worth it. I'd love to eat pizza every day, and watch tv instead of going on a run, but I know that eating healthy foods and exercising is good in the long-run.

But I want to take this subject deeper. Do you ever do something that you really, really don't want to do- something you suffer through- because you think you have to?

Growing up, I could only get away with skipping church if I was sick. I'm talking running a fever or throwing up- there had to be some proof you weren't faking it. You maybe had a similar experience as a kid.

I frequently felt a sense of pride after I made it through another Sunday morning. I gave up an hour of my time for Sunday School class, and an hour for the church service. I read the liturgy, sang the hymns, stood up and sat down at appropriate times.

I felt as though I was suffering for good reason - that I needed to do the appropriate religious ritual to make things right with God. I felt as though the only way to do that was to suffer through a Sunday service.

We're all on a journey, to God or away from him. Looking back, I can see that I engaged in religious activity (church) to try to move towards God. I wasn't sure what else to do, it just seemed natural.

It's kind of sad that I thought this "suffering" for two hours a week would be adequate enough to appease the God of the universe. There's a problem with that logic. If doing good things gets you to Heaven, how many good things do you have to do? Do you just do more good than bad, and that's it? How do you ever know how much is enough?

The solution is both simple and deep. To make God happy with me, I'd have to live a perfect life. That's the standard. That's the only way. So we know the solution, but we can't get there. Even on my best days, I'm nowhere near perfect.

Jesus was perfect. Because he came into this world as a human, and lived a perfect life, he's the solution to the problem of not being able to earn my way to God. I don't have to rely on my own religious activities; I can't rely on them, because they won't hold up. I won't be going to heaven because I read my Bible or go to church or tithe. I'm going to heaven because I trust that Jesus' perfect life covers my messed up one, and I believe that it's the only solution.

Reminds me of something Paul wrote in the book of Philippians: "I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith."

Another version states it this way: "I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the law. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ."