CONSISTENT CHRISTIAN LIVING
Our Christian faith and lives are peculiar in many aspects. One of them is in the area of standard expected of us by God. The standard is more of spiritual than physical. What God expects from us are all the same; repentance, righteous living, etc. The Christian life starts when someone repents of his or her sins and accepts Jesus Christ as Lord, and Saviour. The true Christian life should be patterned after the life of Christ in terms of character and attitude because Christ is the image of God. These include His humility, righteousness, etc. It is expected at salvation that we should put off all the old character that are inimical to the new life expected of us as Christians. Paul mentioned them in Ephesians 4:22. We are also expected to put on the new man created to God in righteousness and holiness. The Christian life should be consistent with the life of Christ.
Consistent in this aspect means coherent or reliable. Christ has given us a model to follow as His followers. His attitude is well spelled out in the scriptures and all things He expects us to do. These are the patterned to suit the kingdom He has gone to prepare for us. We can only inherit that kingdom if our lives here conforms that that of Christ and His expectations of us. According to Paul in his letter to Ephesians, consistent Christian living demands that we should clothe ourselves with the new nature void of sin; we shouldn’t tell lies but the truth always as we are all part of Christ. We should also remove anger and not to hold grudges. We should avoid using bad and foul language on one another. These and many others are little sins that are common among Christians which are not consistent with Christian living. Consistent living also includes personal and corporate prayers and study of the word of God.
In the beginning of a new year like this, it is important that we should take stock of the life we have so far lived to determine if we are still living in consistent with what God has called us into. In taking such stock, we should use the scripture as our mirror to see what we are in reality. If actually we are children of God (Christians) we should obey His voice (John 10:27) and follow His instructions (Ex. 20:1ff). We should live as our Father in terms of love for Him and selfless service for humanity. We should empty ourselves of all manner of pride, selfishness, grudges, anger, bitterness, etc and repent of them. Are you living in obedience to the word of God? Are you following Christ as your Shepherd by obeying His voice? It is only when we are doing these that we can live consistently as Christians who will be worthy of God’s kingdom at last. Think about it!
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