Van The sanctification process is usually quite painful.
It starts with repentance.
And that repentance is ongoing death to self repentance.
The cross is an invitation to die....to yield to the indwelling Holy Spirit and let Him transform us into Christ's image marred by the fall.
As Christians we need to continually judge ourselves against the scriptures. If we fail to judge ourselves God will judge us...because we are His children.
1 Corinthians 11:31-32 kjv
For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
Easy believism has no place in the life of a Christian. We are constantly on death row. How else would we be crowned?
š¤£š¤£This is JW dot net!!! Every last one of us (unless we were double lifers who got out as teens) has gone through mental hell constantly judging ourselves, in an absolutely vicious manner, as the lowest form of abomination! Talk about a tax collector not lifting your eyes up - many of us didn't even feel worthy to pray. I used to dream with green eyed jealousy of the monks in the Dark Ages who could chastise themselves with a Switch daily!! I thought it must be so much easier than the guilt and mental worthlessness I felt at every thought that entered my head. Let alone each person I did not witness to, whose blood was on my hands. Even as a child I constantly chided myself and begged for forgiveness. When I was 11 I was nearly assaulted bringing food and to witness to what I thought was a "tramp" in a boarded up place. No adults around. Luckily one of his 'buddies' walked in just in time for me to make my escape. Living with my non witness father I didn't understand the witness 'no charity' thing and so strove to do real Christian works.
But no. No JW would ever think being a Christian was a cake walk. Far from it.