A good population of
people living in this world are Christians. This is is an undeniable fact as we
see many fully packed Christian denominations and ministries all over the
globe, working miracles and wonders. We have also seen powerful miracles being worked
by many men of God on their flocks and it is really amazing to see this. It is,
however, surprising that much as many people follow the Christian faith a big
number of the "Christians" do not live a Christian life at all. This
can be observed in the actions and attributes of the many Christians around the
world. I want to focus much on two things; actions and outcomes of Christians.
To begin with, being a Christian is all about oneness with Christ. it is about following the Master, Jesus Christ, who came on Earth to live as an example to us all. The Bible gives us evidence that Jesus came as man, but still persevered the very same conditions every man at that time went through, but He stayed faithful to the Father, living without sin. Philippians 2:5-7 says, "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." This shows that as Christians, our actions can be, and need to be in line with what our Master, Jesus Christ was preaching and doing. We also have to keep it in mind that our actions influence the people we see and thus we have to live as the light to the world, with Christian actions always.
As Christians, we also need to live as Christ Himself for the reason that the very moment that we gave our lives to Him, we ceased to live and He lives in us. Paul, in his letter to the Galatians said, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."(Galatians 2:20). These are the words every Christian should be speaking, not only by the word of mouth but also through their good actions which will bring light to the world.
Many of us have grown with the mentality that we encounter God when we go to our various church gatherings and nowhere else. The implication of that is that we see many Christians who can do mighty and wonderful works in church settings failing to do well in academics, finances or even in their relationships life.
In academics, as Christians we are supposed to be achieving a lot in our studies, understanding everything we learn and applying it wherever needed. This is achieved when we accept who we are spiritually and choose to apply it in our academic circles. The Bible in Isaiah 11:2 talks of how the seven Spirits of God, among them the spirit of knowledge and the spirit of understanding were on Jesus. If we follow the same Jesus, we will have the same knowledge and understanding and we will apply it in our academics for our good and the good of the people we will serve. As Christians in various academic institutions we also need to take into account Jesus' attribute of hard work. Throughout His 3 year ministry Jesus impacted on a lot of people because He could not stay idle in a place when He had work to do. That is what every Christian should always strive for; working hard to achieve better. On the other hand, we also need to consider our academic stance as a gift from God, and to honor Him we need to use them best as a platform to show how Great the God we serve is, all by achieving better grades that are coupled up with understanding of the material we learn.
Finances are also another important area where God's influence is important in our lives as Christians. Most of us have been disoriented by teachings that denote money as being evil, but that is not the case. Even our denominations(almost all) have an offering basket every time there is a gathering. If we think of money as evil, are we saying we have offering baskets for evil during our gatherings? Obviously not. Even the running of our church structures needs the very same money and it has to come from the pockets of the very Christians who gather therein. This is where also the abundant life which Christ talked about comes in on financial circles. People of the early church lacked nothing because of their full dependence on God. The Book of the Acts of the Apostles highlights that the early believers sold everything they had and gave the money to the church so that everyone could get some according to his needs. This full dependence on God can also be elicited practically in our lives in the modern days in many various ways and thus people need to stop looking to their earnings as the thing that keeps them running, trusting in God with all their finances always.
Our man-woman or boy-girl relationships also need to be influenced by God in our lives as Christians. As the Bible says, every good gift is from God(above) (James 1:17) and thus a good relationship also comes from God. This is also evidenced by Proverbs 19:14 which says, "Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the LORD." This shows why most of the Christian youth do not succeed in their relationships life. It is simple because most of us choose to separate our relationships life from God that we can venture into relationships without praying about it. This is a very big mistake because once we do that, it means we have overlooked our God in our move to get into a relationship, and that relationship becomes not of God. As a result, God does not sustain such a relationship and most of those lead to breakups, for the simple reason that they are not from God. From this, as Christians we need to learn to involve God in our relationships, because it is He who gives us every good gift that includes good relationships.
In every other aspect of life, we need to be like Jesus our master as Christians. In the Gospel of John(Chapter 15) Jesus said that He is the vine and that we are the vine's branches. This means that we need to be producing the very same good fruits of goodness and success that Jesus produced in His life on Earth. That is the standard of Christian life every Christian should strive for. Let us keep in mind that there is more in Christianity than what happens at church.
To begin with, being a Christian is all about oneness with Christ. it is about following the Master, Jesus Christ, who came on Earth to live as an example to us all. The Bible gives us evidence that Jesus came as man, but still persevered the very same conditions every man at that time went through, but He stayed faithful to the Father, living without sin. Philippians 2:5-7 says, "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." This shows that as Christians, our actions can be, and need to be in line with what our Master, Jesus Christ was preaching and doing. We also have to keep it in mind that our actions influence the people we see and thus we have to live as the light to the world, with Christian actions always.
As Christians, we also need to live as Christ Himself for the reason that the very moment that we gave our lives to Him, we ceased to live and He lives in us. Paul, in his letter to the Galatians said, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."(Galatians 2:20). These are the words every Christian should be speaking, not only by the word of mouth but also through their good actions which will bring light to the world.
Many of us have grown with the mentality that we encounter God when we go to our various church gatherings and nowhere else. The implication of that is that we see many Christians who can do mighty and wonderful works in church settings failing to do well in academics, finances or even in their relationships life.
In academics, as Christians we are supposed to be achieving a lot in our studies, understanding everything we learn and applying it wherever needed. This is achieved when we accept who we are spiritually and choose to apply it in our academic circles. The Bible in Isaiah 11:2 talks of how the seven Spirits of God, among them the spirit of knowledge and the spirit of understanding were on Jesus. If we follow the same Jesus, we will have the same knowledge and understanding and we will apply it in our academics for our good and the good of the people we will serve. As Christians in various academic institutions we also need to take into account Jesus' attribute of hard work. Throughout His 3 year ministry Jesus impacted on a lot of people because He could not stay idle in a place when He had work to do. That is what every Christian should always strive for; working hard to achieve better. On the other hand, we also need to consider our academic stance as a gift from God, and to honor Him we need to use them best as a platform to show how Great the God we serve is, all by achieving better grades that are coupled up with understanding of the material we learn.
Finances are also another important area where God's influence is important in our lives as Christians. Most of us have been disoriented by teachings that denote money as being evil, but that is not the case. Even our denominations(almost all) have an offering basket every time there is a gathering. If we think of money as evil, are we saying we have offering baskets for evil during our gatherings? Obviously not. Even the running of our church structures needs the very same money and it has to come from the pockets of the very Christians who gather therein. This is where also the abundant life which Christ talked about comes in on financial circles. People of the early church lacked nothing because of their full dependence on God. The Book of the Acts of the Apostles highlights that the early believers sold everything they had and gave the money to the church so that everyone could get some according to his needs. This full dependence on God can also be elicited practically in our lives in the modern days in many various ways and thus people need to stop looking to their earnings as the thing that keeps them running, trusting in God with all their finances always.
Our man-woman or boy-girl relationships also need to be influenced by God in our lives as Christians. As the Bible says, every good gift is from God(above) (James 1:17) and thus a good relationship also comes from God. This is also evidenced by Proverbs 19:14 which says, "Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the LORD." This shows why most of the Christian youth do not succeed in their relationships life. It is simple because most of us choose to separate our relationships life from God that we can venture into relationships without praying about it. This is a very big mistake because once we do that, it means we have overlooked our God in our move to get into a relationship, and that relationship becomes not of God. As a result, God does not sustain such a relationship and most of those lead to breakups, for the simple reason that they are not from God. From this, as Christians we need to learn to involve God in our relationships, because it is He who gives us every good gift that includes good relationships.
In every other aspect of life, we need to be like Jesus our master as Christians. In the Gospel of John(Chapter 15) Jesus said that He is the vine and that we are the vine's branches. This means that we need to be producing the very same good fruits of goodness and success that Jesus produced in His life on Earth. That is the standard of Christian life every Christian should strive for. Let us keep in mind that there is more in Christianity than what happens at church.
