WHAT IS REAL

“What is Real? Asked the Velveteen Rabbit one day…..

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin horse. “It’s a thing that
happens to you when someone loves you for a long, long time.”

“Does it hurt?

“Sometimes....when you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”

“Does it happen all at once?....”

“It doesn’t happen all at once…..You become. It takes a long time.
That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break too easily, or have
sharp edges or who have to be carefully kept. Generally by the time you
are Real most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and
you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter
at all, because you a re Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t
understand….”

This famous quote from the Book, “The Velveteen Rabbit” has been an
inspiration to me over the years as I’ve walked in the Christian faith. Many
times I have asked myself, “Am I a real Christian?”

There have even been times when other people have questioned my
walk. Some people have criticize me by saying, “If you were a real Christian
you wouldn’t do this or that.”

So I ask myself, “Am I a real Christian?”

I know that I have asked Jesus Christ into my heart as my Savior; that assures me of Salvation. Still, the Bible does not have a chapter on “How to be a Christian!” or “The Ten Steps to Successful Christianity!” Does this mean that there is no way to know how to be a Christian?

The answer to that is simply: the whole Bible is a set of instructions to follow if you want to be a real Christian. Have I achieved this status? No! I have fallen backwards. I have not perfectly followed all of God’s Commandments.

Believe me; I would love to stand in front of a mirror and say, “I am a Christian based on the things I do, but these things do not make me the perfect Christian.

If you have more than one child, you can understand that every child cannot be treated the same as another. Usually we find that certain actions work on particular children, and other actions on different children. So we judge, punish and reward them in ways unique to their personalities. Christ understands our unique personalities also. Therefore, I believe He judges whether we are a Real Christian strictly by Grace: giving each one who is trying to become a Real Christian mercy for their failures. So, how do we become a Real Christian? It is much like what the velveteen rabbit said:

“Being a Real Christian isn’t how you are made. It’s a thing that happens to you when you love Jesus for a long, long time. Sometimes it hurts. But when you love Jesus you don’t mind being hurt. It doesn’t happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges or who have to be carefully kept. Generally by the time you are a Real Christian, you have had many of your old friends and some family members rubbed off. The old habits you have suffered with have finally loosened from your life and fallen off. You feel a bit bruised and beaten from the trials you have walked through but you know you wouldn’t have made it without Christ to guide you. You see though, these things don’t matter at all, because once you are a Real Christian you can’t ever be lost to Christ.”

God sees you, like a child sees a much loved toy. And as a child say’s
to his father at night, “ bring me my old Velveteen Rabbit that I love so
much,” Christ will say to His Father, “Bring me my Christian followers
that have loved me so much.” Then Jesus will take you to Heaven where
you will be Real forever. ( by Teresa Lilly)