Why It's Hard to Live "Radical"

About a month ago I finished a book entitled "Radical" and it was written by David Platt, who I believe is the youngest mega-church pastor in history. This book was very challenging in that, it causes you to think about the way a person lives his/her life and how most of our lives don't really line up scriptually. What I mean by that is how I can look back throughout my life and see how I viewed God as providing me with a "good" life that was comfortable and I was happy. That if I lived my life good and in God's will (whatever that was) that I would relatively have a nice life. You know the kind of life where you get married and have a family, a nice car, nice house, nice job, etc. The whole time I thought this was the kind of life that I was to look forward to and what God wanted me to have. Sometimes I thought that if something bad happened in my life, that I needed to examine my life and see what sins or things were keeping me from "God's plan". Now after reading this book it has made me really think about what I really believe about God and his plan for my life.
When you look at scripture and what it says about our lives I come up with this basic summary. We are to love God with all of our hearts, and souls, and minds and strength; and love our neighbors as ourselves (Luke 10:27). Be Christ's witnesses to all of the world (Acts 1:8). Make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). And ultimately living a life that is a reflection of Christ's life here on earth. (There is a lot I could say, but this will do for now). When I see these verses and other verses, and think about how Christ actually lived on earth; I never see a life that is characterized by ease and luxury. For 3 years during Christ's ministry he never had a home, but spent His time traveling from town to town doing the work of the Father. He never had fame. Instead he was mocked, beat, and eventually crucified on the cross. . . When I really think about how Christ lived and then look at how I have viewed my life and how other Christians view life, it really shows me how "off" we can be. We never see in scripture that God wants us to live comfortable lives. Instead he tells us to "...take up our crosses and follow me." Instead of a live of luxury and ease he tells us to prepare for a life of ridicule and persecution. A life pursuing after Christ's ministry. The spread of His gospel to EVERYONE on earth. We see this standard of life in scripture and I think to myself, "Why don't I and christians alike live like this?"
This is something that I've been thinking a lot about lately. Especially after I preached a messaged based on living a life like Christ and asked people how different life would look if we all lived this way. How that we could as a church impact the world and it just starts with one person deciding everyday that they were gonna live like Christ. Weeks after preaching that message I found myself in a major low point that I hadn't been through in months. I didn't understand at all how I could say all that I did with passion, and then live like what I said didn't really matter and that it was just words. After talking with God and preparing for the same sermon over again I realized what goes wrong in our lives.
So many times we want the results of a godly, obedient life and we don't put time and effort to haave a relationship with our Father. We can sit and fantasize all day long about how we can't wait till we know God's will for our lives and hear the Holy Spirit speak to us. If we never put time and care into it, then nothing is ever gonna happen. For me I've developed years of bad habits and have never disciplined myself. And that all starts with making the small decisions in everyday life. Choosing to read God's word and pray even when I don't want to. Choosing to serve people and love them even when there is no reward. Choosing to honor and respect our families. Saying no to even the smallest temptations, that if not taken seriously lead us down a slippery slope to a life disconnected from God. Also, we as christians spend so much time chasing after things that will never satisfy what only God can. We chase after nice cars, houses, a higher social status, money, fame, etc. We put a spin on the world's "American Dream" and we pursue life and luxory. When we spend our time and energy pursuing earthly treasures we can never fully experience God and the abundant life he has called us to. Living a Radical life is hard because we are so selfish as human beings, but to fully experience God and the life he has for us we have to live for Christ everyday and die to ourselves. We have to have this mindset that is expressed in John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease."