Being human means that we get to experience life in extraordinary ways. From the joy we feel to the pain we suffer, the human experience is robust. However, “being human” is more than a two-word moniker for life as a homo sapien. It also isn’t an excuse for living a selfish life.
When it comes to abdicating responsibility, there is one phrase that makes my skin crawl: “I’m only human.” I just think, Oh, well, in that case, why should I ever expect anything extraordinary out of you. Obviously, being human to you means being ordinary and living with the expectation of failure.
In my efforts to follow Jesus, I know I don’t always get it right. In fact, I get it wrong quite often. But the “human” excuse falls flat as a Christian. When I try to do things on my own power, I can expect to fail. The life Christ calls us to live cannot be lived on our own strength. And that’s the beauty of truly following Jesus—we can’t lose sight of Him lest we fall … and fall hard.
“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:13
Jesus does not call us to the impossible—He calls us to the extraordinary through His strength. But the extraordinary looks impossible when we’re trying to do it on our own strength. Why would we look to our own source of power when we know it’s insufficient? Pride? Ego?
The real disappointment comes when we fail to live the way Jesus calls us to live and we dismiss our shortcoming because “we’re only human.” If we’re determined to live in such a cycle of raised expectations to “human” failure, why are we “following” Jesus at all? What difference is the presence of the Holy Spirit making in our lives?
Oswald Chambers addresses this question as well quite poignantly:
“For you to say, ‘Oh, I’m no saint,’ is acceptable by human standards of pride, but it is unconscious blasphemy against God. You defy God to make you a saint, as if to say, ‘I am too weak and hopeless and outside the reach of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.’ Why aren’t you a saint? It is either that you do not want to be a saint, or that you do not believe that God can make you into one.”
The real question we must answer is this: What are we going to do with ourselves? Are we going to continue dismissing our shortcomings as merely the result of us being only human? Or are we going to allow the Holy Spirit to continue the transformation process in our hearts to the point that those shortcomings and failures become less frequent—and happen without excuse?
When our lives fall short of what God wants for us, the reason is simple: We have turned to our own power and neglected to rely upon God. The sooner we stop making excuses, the sooner we can begin experiencing more life-changing transformation.
Act. Think about areas of your life that seem to be a constant struggle for you. Make a list of the opposite character traits from those sins and struggles and ask God to give you that kind of heart.
Pray. Father, I need You. Help me to walk in the power of Your Holy Spirit for my life today and not in my own strength.
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