It is
almost traditional that we resolve to be better every New Year. But unless we
understand what it means to be a good Christian, how could we be better
Christians this New Year?
The Heart Of Good
Christians: God Hates The Wicked Heart
We could
take resolutions to intensify our relationship with God. So we could resolve to
pray more or fast more or increase our giving. But before we undertake such
seemingly spiritual resolutions, let us examine whether our heart is in the
right place or not.
God abhors
the dishonest motive of a Christian heart.
God hates Christians
who are spiritually proud. God hates those who strive to gain popularity before
men for their religious deeds. So God hates those who perform the following
religious rituals for all the wrong reasons:
1. Give
much to their church or to the needy (cf. Matthew 6: 1-4).
2. Pray
wonderfully well (cf. Matthew 6: 5).
3. Fast (cf.
Matthew 6: 16-18).
4. [Unjustly]
judge others (cf. Matthew 7: 1-5).
5. Prophesy,
drive out demons, perform signs and wonders (cf. Matthew 7: 21-23).
While we
should rightfully strive to give more, pray more, fast more often, and eagerly
desire the spiritual gifts, we should ensure that we do not perform these
spiritual deeds with dishonest motives e.g. to make more money or to be
recognized / praised by men.
The Heart Of Good
Christians: God Loves The Humble Heart
A cursory
reading of the Sermon on the Mount would reveal that God loves those who are humble
about their spirituality i.e. those who are not proud and feel sufficient of
their spirituality. God loves those who mourn for their lack of spirituality,
their sins and the sins of others.
God loves
the meek. In the words of John Wesley the meek are those who, “…hold all their
passions and affections evenly balanced…They shall have all things really
necessary for life and godliness. They shall enjoy whatever portion God hath
given them.”1
God loves
those whose hearts are pure (those who love God with all their heart, mind,
soul and strength) and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. God loves
the merciful; we are not to think more highly of ourselves, but to think of
ourselves with sober discernment (cf. Romans 12: 3).
This is who
we should desire to be. But it’s not
easy!
Good Christians
Overcome Satan
The enemy
of our souls, the devil, is actively striving to destroy the Christian, “Your
enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to
devour.” (1 Peter 5: 8b, NET).
The
greatest need for any Christian, who desires to love the Lord more and to grow
stronger in HIM, is to defeat the devil every hour. If we are strong in the
Lord and in HIS mighty power (Ephesians 6: 10), we would grow spiritually – in
our relationship with God.
In
Ephesians 6, the Bible reveals a strategy to overcome the devil. In order to
defeat the devil, we should integrate the following:
A. Truth of
God’s Word: to understand Christ, who is the epitome of truth, and defend the
truth of God’s Word.
B. Righteousness
of God imputed upon us: to grow in holiness.
C. Peace
that transcends all understanding: to be at peace at all times and in all
circumstances however difficult it may be.
D. To live
by faith in Christ: to remove all material aspects out of our realm and to
focus only upon God always.
E. Salvation
so graciously offered to us: to share Christ and constantly work out our salvation.
F. Pray: to
pray for ourselves and the needs of people around us.
Good Christians
Understand Their Specific Calling
Christians
are called to different spiritual vocations. Some Christians are called to be
prophets, some called to be evangelists, some to be pastors, and others to be teachers
(cf. Ephesians 4: 11). Similarly the Bible teaches, “For one person is given through the Spirit
the message of wisdom, and another
the message of knowledge according
to the same Spirit, to another faith
by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another performance of miracles, to another prophecy, and to another discernment of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, and to
another the interpretation of tongues.”
(1 Corinthians 12: 8-10, NET, Emphasis Mine).
Good
Christians, by spending time with God to understand HIS mind, would understand HIS
specific calling for their lives.
Conclusion
In essence,
a good Christian constantly desires to grow more in the Lord – to love HIM more
and to allow HIM to transform his life so that he lives according to HIS will
and pleasure. A good Christian is humble about his spirituality and constantly
desires to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Furthermore, he strives to
understand and fulfill the specific purpose for which he was created.
In a
general sense, these should be on our bucket list for this New Year and always:
to be poor in spirit, meek, pure, merciful, and to hunger and thirst for
righteousness, so to grow in our love for our dear Lord and to love our neighbor
as we love ourselves. Let us desire to be strengthened in the Lord and in HIS
mighty power, so that we can defeat the devil at all times. Moreover, when we
read the Bible and pray, the precious Holy Spirit would impress upon us the
need to grow in specific spiritual fields.
One year or
one life time is not sufficient to grow in our spirituality or to be better Christians.
Hence, we should pray that this desire constantly remains in us and burns as
wildfire in us, so that the mighty anointing of our Lord would be upon us
always.
Every New
Year is a reminder for us to grow more and more in the Lord. May we treat this
New Year as an occasion for us to be better Christians and may our lives
glorify our dear Lord always.
May the
good Lord bless and keep you in HIS presence this New Year and always.
Endnotes:
1http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/wesleys-explanatory-notes/matthew/matthew-5.html
(last accessed on 29th December 2016.)
