It would be very strange to see a butterfly living its life like a caterpillar, never trusting its wings to carry it and never embracing its new identity. It would be a denial of all that defines its existence.
It occurred to me some time ago that I had spent a significant part of my life making statements about faith, but not actually living my life as if they were true. That’s why I gave this book the title ‘As If’ – because I wondered how different my life would look if I lived as if everything I claimed to believe about God, was actually true.
Was I a butterfly who was living like a caterpillar?
So I decided to wipe the slate clean and rewrote my faith statement. I decided that no Christian cliché or well-used Christian catch phrase would pass my lips unless I really believed it and was ready to live as if it was true and stake my life on it. The biggest ‘As If’ of all has been that I have decided to live as if I am the focus of the greatest love in the universe – that I am the object of God’s unsearchable and extravagant love.
I have found that the greatest battle I wage is against myself as I try to be true to the life of Christ that lives in me. So that’s what I’ve decided to do, to look Jesus in the eye and live my life as if His love for me is enough to carry me through everything.
It’s simple really.
So simple that anyone can do it, and I don’t know how I could have missed it for so long.