Is the Jesus You’re Following the Real Jesus?

If the Jesus you are following doesn’t require you to leave anything behind – especially things you’ve become really familiar with, comfortable, or reliant on – then that’s not the real Jesus. 
If the Jesus you follow never calls you to a deeper relationship with Him based on His Word and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, then that’s not the real Jesus.
If the Jesus you are following only calls you to accept everyone and everything in the world as ok – regardless of whether or not it affirms God’s original design as found in His Word – without rejecting the false narratives and identities of the world, then that’s not the real Jesus.
If the Jesus you are following fawns over politicians and political ideologies, demanding allegiance to the Kingdoms of this world (parties, political agendas, nations, states, regions, continents) rather than the Kingdom of God, then that’s not the real Jesus.
If the Jesus you follow tells you to celebrate yourself – your desires, feelings, and preferences – rather than celebrating a new, restored identity in Him, then that’s not the real Jesus.
If the Jesus you follow encourages you to “live your best life” without inviting Him to fundamentally transform your life from the inside out through the power of the Holy Spirit, then that’s not the real Jesus. 
If the Jesus you follow is more concerned with equity, opportunity, and inclusion rather than transformed hearts living transformed lives, then that’s not the real Jesus.
The real Jesus invites you into the wide, wonderful, abundant life in the Kingdom through the narrow gate of salvation. You cannot experience the abundance of the Kingdom without the laying down of your life, without exchanging your thoughts for His, your preferences for His, and your desires for His.
Fundamental to following Jesus is this radical idea that as I die to myself, I am raised in Him. In other words, as I allow myself to be crucified with Christ, I am made alive in Christ – both through the singular salvation experience and the daily choices I make. There is no life in Christ without daily dying to the flesh, no matter how strongly the flesh may try to convince you otherwise. 
Christians realize that the only way to be fully fulfilled in this life is to lay down what we thought was life in order to receive the new gift of life offered through Christ. Otherwise, we add Jesus on to our list of preferences and ideologies rather than making a divine exchange.