Monday, April 13, 2009

Your Way of Life

There is an expression sometimes used by people to explain behavior that goes something like this - "That is just the way I am" or "That is just the way he/she is." People do have a a way. Billy Joel even wrote these lyrics, " She's got a way about her, don't know what it is, but I just know I can't live without her." Everybody is unique and every person has a certain way they go about living their life.

But one thing each individual should keep in mind is that they are not locked into a certain lifestyle. The liar doesn't have to lie just because he has always been a liar. The same could be said for any other sin - homosexuality, hatred, drunkenness, stealing, et cetera. The fact is that we choose our way of living. We make a decision about who we are and what we believe every single day.

Since such is the case, then we can also change the way we practice our Christianity. We don't have to be Sunday morning only Christians, even if that is all we have ever been. We don't have to keep from being more involved in the work of the church, just because we have never been involved in the past. We don't have to lack zeal for evangelism, just because in our former days we have lacked the nerve necessary to save a lost soul.

What we need to do is really very simple. We need to pray earnestly that God will change our hearts and make us aware of our spiritual shortcomings. Then we need to follow up by changing our behavior and making a habit of doing the things we have always wanted to do for Christ. You can change your way of life! You can do things differently than you have done them in the past!

Peter wrote about the importance of no longer living the rest of our time in the flesh for the sake of sin, but instead, living for the will of God (1 Pet. 4:2). The point is that God has the power to not only save us from death, He has the power to change our life for today. That is a very exciting proposition! We don't have to wait until Jesus comes again to be blessed. We can be blessed immediately by simply making the choices to live for God today.

Stop making excuses for your lack of involvement in the kingdom. Stop saying to yourself that who you are and what you practice is good enough. Stop telling yourself that the way you live your Christian life is as good as you can do, because that is just the way you are.

Faithfulness is a way of life. Commitment is a way of life. Evangelism is a way of life. Humility is a way of life. Kindness is a way of life...

You can do anything you want to do. You can be anything you want to be. Nothing is impossible with God!

"For to me to live is Christ..." ~ Philippians 1:21

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