It’s not uncommon to face rejection from family members and friends when someone chooses to follow Jesus. Mark Custalow, from the Mattaponi tribe in Virginia, answers the question, “Is following Jesus worth it?” He makes a strong case that it is. Mark is a Christian Native American.
** Check out more important questions and answers here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm4Y5qad3GcRGo7ymJ8Wwzdz6rio7nXv8
If you’ve found this helpful, Please Subscribe, Like, and Share!
Transcript:
You know, God created us to need relationship, to need love. I know that because I observed that. I’m a student of human behavior, my own heart.
We are all created to need love and to belong. God placed us in the context of families. When we were born, you were birthed into your mother’s womb. She gave birth to you and you live and you’re in the context of a family, right? We all have different family experiences, some good, some not good.
Some families, because of their deeply held traditions and belief, believe that if you leave that faith or belief that they’ve taught you, that they kind of excommunicate you. In fact, that’s exactly what they do. They kick you out of the family and they say, “You’re dead to us. We don’t want to have anything to do with you.” And if that’s your case, if you’re saying to me today, “Hey, if I believe this Jesus, then my family is going to kick me out.” That’s a brutally hard decision because there’s a part of you that wants to belong. And you belong by birth to the family that you were birthed in and raised by.
But you’ve got to know that God is your Creator and He loves you more than all of your family combined. He holds your eternal destiny in His hands and He’s offering you an eternity in Heaven if you’ll but trust Him by faith.
So yes, believing in Jesus may cost you your family. You know there are some people that believed in Jesus and He called them to be missionaries, to go places and it costs them their lives.
Christianity doesn’t solve all your problems. It doesn’t take all your problems away. It gives you a hope in the midst of all of our problems that God is greater than our problems. We can trust Him and regardless of what happens to our body, our soul is secure for all of eternity in Jesus.
So I don’t want to deceive you into thinking that if you believe in Jesus, everything’s going to be nice and rosy for the rest of your life. There’s actually a cost to following Jesus. And that road of following Jesus may come at the cost of your family saying, “Believe in Jesus and you’re dead to us.”
I would ask you what’s more important to you, this temporary earth suit and temporary relationships or the eternal destination of your soul, abiding with the Creator God who made you in His image and wants you to live with Him for all of eternity without end. Because the alternative is in eternity and hell forever without escape, without end.
Don’t reject the love of God. He’s made a way specifically for you. And any costs we have to pay pales in comparison to the price that Jesus paid to purchase your soul.
End Transcript
Interested in true-life stories of First Nations people from across Native North America who are following Jesus Christ without reservation? Check out The Storyteller on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm4Y5qad3GcSgJ3xizrCxCWaA-ZO7eUdK
You can also listen on The Storyteller radio app.
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tithely.app.c40776
Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-storyteller-radio-app/id1550371468
Or you can visit our website: http://www.withoutreservation.com