Summarizing The Christian Life
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesIn his first letter to the Corinthian brethren, the apostle Paul calls them (and us) to live a watchful, committed, courageous, competent and charitable life:
“Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love” (1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NKJV).
1) The word “watch” in the above passage is translated from a Greek word that means “to be on the alert, to watch.” So many bad things happen to us simply because we are not always watchful enough. We don’t pay attention like we should. Haven’t we all made mistakes behind the wheel because we didn’t watch as carefully as we should? How many students who actually know the material make low test grades because they are careless? How many times have we bought the wrong thing at the store because we just didn’t look closely at the package? Now the consequences of careless mistakes like these things vary in importance, but they all pale in comparison to the consequences of spiritual carelessness When it comes to our spiritual lives we need to be spiritually alert (1 Thessalonians 5:21 NKJV, 1 Timothy 4:16 NKJV; 1 John 4:1 NKJV).
2) Paul also tells us to be committed when he emphatically states: “stand fast in the faith.” The Greek word used here gives us the idea of standing firm in something, i.e., truth. If we want to be spiritually successful we be firm in our dedication to “the faith” — His saving Gospel (Romans 1:16 NKJV, Romans 5:1 NKJV).
In his letter to the Ephesian brethren, Paul said:
“Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:13-17 NKJV).
The word of God gives us the ability to stand and resist all the evil the world may cast our way. But only if we are committed to it and the faith it engenders in us (Romans 10:17 NKJV).
3) Paul also calls us to courage by the use of the phrase, “be brave” The Greek word means to “show one’s self a man ” or “conduct oneself in a manly way.” The idea is to exemplify the courage that belongs to a mature man who understands his responsibility to withstand any and every wrong. There is a blessing for everyone who embraces courage. Remember Paul’s admonition to Timothy:
“….God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV).
4) Paul requires of us that we be competent when he says “be strong.” A baseball player’s strength is revealed in his competence at the plate and on the field. This is not just raw ability, but strength trained and honed to a fine edge of valuable ability. We read that Jesus grew “strong in spirit” (Luke 2:40 NKJV) and was thus equipped for His greatest challenge (cf. Luke 4:1-13 NKJV). A strong Christian is one who knows the Book (2 Timothy 2:15 ASV) and lives accordingly (cf. 1 Timothy 4:16 NKJV).
5) Paul’s desire for each one of us is to act altogether in love. Whatever we do, it must be done mixed with love. What a challenge! Just think how great our life and influence could be if we could put this idea of doing all we do in love in action every day of our lives.
The words carefulness, commitment, courage, competence, and love are words which summarize the Christian life. Let us this day (and every day) be thankful for the Word of God — the guide and pattern for our lives (Proverbs 2:1-9 NKJV).
Related Articles:
- To Be Or Not To Be A Christian?
- Why Become A Christian?
- The Christian Life — Tough Or Easy?
- Living The “Good Life”
- “Live Large” For The Lord
- The “Value Added” Life
- Let’s Daily Magnify Our Lord To Others
- If We Had Three Wishes
- Our Only Expectation