Worship God how He wants (not how you want)

Really, for the spiritual Christian, their desires line up with God's desires.  This means that they will want to worship how God wants them to worship.

 

But it's worth highlighting that there are many who would worship God in their own way.  I don't mean in an individual way, which of course we will do.  I mean that some prefer certain rituals, songs, candles, locations, etc.

 

This misses the point on a number of levels.  First, they fail to realise that worship is not an event that you schedule into your week.  Worship is an entire lifestyle with every decision reflecting the love that you have for your Saviour.  Second, for those who doggedly insist that these rituals are needed to get into the right frame of mind, they often are the same people who misunderstand what it means to be spiritual (to worship in the "spirit" part of worshipping in spirit and in truth).

 

The truth part is the truth about who God is, as revealed in his Word (the bible).  The spirit part is nothing to do with a demonstration of the gifts of the spirit.  The spirit part is the spiritual lifestyle modelled after Christ and showing much fruit of the spirit.  In these two things is the knowledge of how to worship God as He wants.  Don't be led astray from the simple, but hard to walk in, truth.

 

Striving

Not succeeding, not failing to try at all though. Somewhere in the middle, but certainly not a feeble attempt.

 

Being a Christian, having the Spirit at work in you, doesn't automatically guarantee success at everything you try. You might fail to put off temptation one time, you might fail to see what is the right judgment when your kids misbehave, you will certainly get it wrong some time where your spouse is concerned!

 

Failure is not an excuse to give up. Sadly, some will. But others will endure to the end and receive the reward. How we continue to strive in one thing, not to be quick-tempered for example, parallels how we continue to strive for perfection in the rest of our lives.

 

Keep trying your best, trust God for your shortcomings, and to complete you at Jesus' return.  At this time, the fruit of our feeble but valiant strivings will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye, and we will rejoice forevermore in the presence of the Lord.