What makes the Christian walk such a struggle for some?
 

Throughout Scripture, beginning in Genesis, our relationship with God is described as a walk. Jesus invites us to follow Him, to walk in His footsteps. We are implored to "walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we have been called" (Eph. 4:1, NASB). Walking requires us to put one foot in front of another and progress forward.

This particularly seems to happen when the focus is more on external conformity than giving attention to one's heart condition. Though walking is an activity, walking the walk is as much a matter of the heart as it is what we do. In 1 Kings 8:58 Solomon said “May He turn our hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways.”
 
An undivided heart is essential to a steady walk with Him.

Teach me Your way, O LORD, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name. (Ps. 86:11)

We cannot walk in sin or the ways of the world and be in fellowship with God.

God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 Jn. 1:5-7)

If you aren't convinced struggles in our Christian walk are usually heart issues, consider these thoughts from God's Word:

• For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. (Matt.15:19)
   
  
• The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (Lk. 6:45)

If the struggle to walk the walk truly is a heart issue, then the exhortation in Proverbs 4:23 provides the solution: Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Other Walk the Walk devotional guides available from Ministry Tools Resource Center:

• Walk the Walk in Wisdom
  
• Walk the Walk As Those Who Gone Before
  
• Walk the Walk Even When It Hurts
   
   
  

Click Here for helps in specific areas of your walk with God that need further equipping.
 
 

Click Here for reasons to use devotional guides.