Naturally, things or objects left on their own and unattended tend to disintegrate in shape and form. They gravitate towards a state of chaos. For example: Neglect of your hair, home, vehicle, life, etc… it will fall apart. Fervency and vitality in the Christian life is not an automatic process. Becoming and remaining a Christian requires effort. There are constant forces working to neutralise and if possible, completely paralyse your Christianity.
Colin Nyathi
Five characteristics of being backslidden
l Loss of the first love for God
Every believer who has had a genuine encounter with Jesus Christ knows this first love. It is an experience that consumes a person and compels them to be totally sold out to God. I recall when I was born again, the joy, beauty and nature of people, etc. With the passage of time, this love begins to grow cold. A disinterest in the things of God begins to set in. (Those who have fallen in love recall those earlier years long back.) talk about uku tayimela, walking distance, etc). One of the churches mentioned in the Bible we read seems to have fallen victim of this sad situation. Jesus rebuked the church of Ephesus for being loveless. Jesus didn’t mince His words.
I can imagine what He would say to a church in the 21th century.
l Yes, your works are good.
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l You labour tirelessly.
l Your patience overshadows that of a crocodile.
l You are very zealous.
l But you have neglected your first love.
God values our first love more than anything we want to give Him. God had this same frustration with the children of Israel. You see, the first love makes you totally possessed and captured by the one you love.
Nothing else can replace the first love. Anyone who has ever been involved in courtship has a good idea of what God was feeling as a result of Israel’s cold love toward Him. The scene is played over and over again in many married couple’s lives. Countless wives are crying for their first love… even our wives! They have everything else they need… a car, clothes, a home, money etc… but they want more of the man they once knew. The man they see now is not the one who would wait in the rain for two hours under the influence of the first love. He has lost it?
First love is powerful. There is nothing like it.
Let me ask you a few questions?
l Do you still have the fire of God in you?
l Where is that first love?
l Do you still love the Lord?
General love for God and people waxes (gradually grows, becomes cold)
In these days, there is a reduction of love toward God and fellow man. Jesus prophetically warned us in Matthew 24 vs 12.
Little or no interest for God and others is a sign of backsliding. Although you are still religious and going to church, God and His people have little or no place in your heart. If you can’t love people, you will always find it hard to be a Christian.
Christianity is about God and people. God loves people, and He wants you to love them too. Even the most unlovable ones — love them. Even those who talk ill of you.
‘Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.’ Every one of us has the ability to love.
When you are self-directed, self-governed and full of your own ways
Backsliding causes you to remove your trust from God. It’s good to have resources, but don’t lean on them more than you do on Jesus.
Don’t lean on your own ways and understanding, you will be disappointed. The Bible says in Proverbs 14 vs 14.
“The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways…” The more you take control of your own life, the further away you move from God. Our ways will lead us astray and our ways are dangerous. The story of the prodigal son is a very good example. He trusted in his possessions.
The fourth characteristic of being backslidden is found at Isaiah 40 vs 30
When you get exhausted spiritually and get tired in the natural.
By divine design, the spirit of a man is supposed to control the soul and body. More often than not when the spirit is weak, the vitality of the soul and body is compromised. A tired, irritable and complaining Christian is often suffering from spiritual fatigue and exhaustion. If you take time to rest and after a long rest you are still tired and exhausted, conduct a thorough check — up on your spiritual state! Chances are that you are spiritually drained. You, therefore, need to do something about your spiritual state.
If you are satisfied and happy with the way you are (your status quo)
There is always room for improvement and getting into a higher dimension of spiritual vitality. Anytime you stop growing, you don’t plateau, you start dying (regressing). You are either growing or dying. This church was totally oblivious of her condition because of settling down and not wanting to move on into higher levels of glory, (contentment). Jesus gave the Laodicean church a scathing rebuke in Revelation 3 vs 15-16.
Watch out, what you may call a good Christian may be actually God’s vomit.
Backsliding is a genuine threat to every believer. It is important to note that all fires, no matter how big and hot, tend to die. Left unattended, any fire will die either due to fuel exhaustion, excessive ash accumulation or weather elements such as rain.
Backsliding is subtle and difficult to detect. It is like bad breath. Everybody around you knows you have bad breath except you. You are busy opening your mouth and cracking jokes and others are saying, “why can’t this crocodile close its mouth”.
Backsliding people sometimes are totally oblivious about their pathetic state. It is a dangerous thing to be backslidden and not to know it.
Blessed out of God’s presence
Blessings, if not handled properly, will take you out of God’s presence. Blessed and prosperous people can also backslide. I am a firm believer in divine prosperity. However, it baffles my mind to see a once needy meek brother who dearly loved God become prosperous only to turn his back against God. Have you ever realised that the prodigal son used his father’s wealth to pay his way out of the presence of his own dear father? We need both prosperity and His presence.
The children of Israel couldn’t responsibly handle affluence. The things of God must never become more important than the God of the things.
The danger of backsliding
Backsliding kills and destroys its victims. Backsliding causes people to lose the best things as they settle for the good ones. Good is the enemy of best.
Bringing back the fire
How do you get the fire burning again in the fireplace?
l Desperate days demand desperate measures.
First of all, you must be honest and admit that all is not well.
We live in days where admitting our shortcomings is interpreted as a sign of weakness. You can’t know where you are going unless you know where you are coming from. Destinations are usually described in relation to the place of departure. The children of Israel came to terms with their apparent complacency and confessed before God.
Even Jesus said that it is only the sick that need a doctor. Unless you have correctly diagnosed your malady, it is difficult to prescribe an effective cure.
l Desperately hunger and thirst after Him
You must desperately want God. If you are giving yourself credit, congratulating and patting yourself on the back for your spiritual condition now, forget about his manifest presence! Satisfaction is dangerous. You need nothing if you are satisfied. Satisfied people are very choosy. Have you noticed how a plain meal tastes when you are hungry? (Duma). Jesus only calls thirsty people.
God knows the danger of giving people things they don’t need. Things that come cheaply attract cheap attention.
l Be ready to repent
People don’t want to be told to repent these days… they think it’s old-fashioned.
In Matthew 3 vs 1-3, when John the Baptist came preaching, his message was repentance. In simple terms, repentance means making a decision that results in a change of mind and heart, which in turn leads to a change in purpose and action.
l Repentance does several things in your life
• It builds a highway for God to come through to you.
• It straightens the crooked paths.
• It fills every low place, destroys and brings down pride and leaves you open to God.
Repentance is not for everybody. Only those who acknowl
