“Sometimes beginning to live the Christian life and walk the victory walk is like an episode I saw of Third Rock from the Sun.

In this episode, Dick hits a chipmunk and is riddled in guilt [the young Christian begins his new walk riddled with guilt and condemnation]. He decides that his way of life must change so that no animal will ever again be hurt because of him or his companions.

He has authority over his roommates so he forces them to rid their lives of products that may have caused pain to animals [the young Christian trys to rid his life of all sin or what he considers to be sinful activities]

This is far more difficult than he anticipated as he had not realized the extent to which animal byproducts (shoes, pesticides for the ants, ham sandwiches, fur coats) had invaded his life and the life of his companions and he also has not anticipated that some of his companions (fellow employees) would not want to cooperate with his efforts to rid the world of these vices. [Sound familiar, little Christian?]

As some of his companions refuse his demands all together [what?! I like my surf and turf] and the others irritate each other with pointing out the minutest failings they perceive in each other’s attempts to meet the standards [can anyone say legalism, denominational rifts, etc.?] Dick begins to realize how much he himself will have to give up, i.e.; suffer for his cause.

And what if his efforts prove futile, which they do (chippy is eaten by a hawk when he has recovered and is released to the wild. Dick then kills the hawk while defending the chipmunk.)

He is unable to continue in his extremist efforts and so caves to his peers and underlings -sitting down to eat meat in a fog of pesticide.

Many times, young Christians in their extremist efforts to become all that they desire to become for the Lord, in the noblest of efforts to conform to their idea of what the image of Christ really is, forget that they cannot ride on the whims of emotion for long.

What goes up- must come down and so it is with ‘feelings’- the mountain of elation is often followed by descent into the valley of despair.

Having not been able to accomplish it all, they throw in the towel and backslide or at least come to a wrenching halt in their progress. Instead we must as more ‘perfect’ [defined as mature in vines * ] Christians, guide them into the more gradual process of replacing wrong language with right language, walking in faith instead of feelings, and moving toward the happy medium.

God has promised to bring mountains down and valleys up and to guide us in the straight [defined as level] path. Christ has done the work for us and made the yoke easy but progress is made line upon line, precept upon precept.

Precept by precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little… Isa. 28:10

It was the way I finally began to lose weight when all the diets failed to produce any visible progress. I started over and tried only one thing at a time, and I let Christ help me with that one thing. I replaced sodas with water. Then when that had become old hat, a habit, I began drinking enough water, at least 4 bottles [20 oz] daily. As that became automatic, I replaced a menu item such as fried chicken with a grilled chicken breast. Over time, I learned to push away a plate -very difficult if you were raised during the ‘clean plate club’ era- before I felt full. It felt good although it was months later when I finally stepped on the scale and it no longer swung well past 150 but stopped short of that mark. And the best part was I hardly worked at it.

Habits can be friends instead of taskmasters. [Charlotte Mason reference needed here.] The Formation of Habit

Help young Christians keep walking by slowing down the pace without dampening the enthusiasm. Let their enthusiasm rub off on you and inspire you while you teach them temperance [self-control]. God has promised that those who diligently seek him WILL be rewarded and we are. But diligently doesn’t mean working harder- it means not to ever quit.

If you become diligent, you will find persistence becomes a habit. And if you are persistent, you will get past the first faltering steps of the victory walk to run well the race that is yours for the prize that is set before you.