Why aren’t the lives of some Christians visibly different from those of non-Christians?
Now that raises an interesting question: Are there legitimate reasons why those of us who call ourselves Christians would NOT bother (or restrict ourselves) to live this distinctive life?
- We wouldn’t even try unless we felt that there were good reasons to live the Christian life.
- I certainly wouldn’t do it if I didn’t believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Almighty.
- If Christ isn’t God, should we bother? He couldn’t know whether we are behaving ourselves, could He? Would people around us tell Him when we misbehaved? (Oooooo – spies!)
Well, let’s take the positive side: Why WOULD one make sacrifices to live a Christian life?
- When I love another person enough to want him or her to live forever by trusting Christ, I try to live the way we all know Christians should live. After all, I say I’m a Christian. If I didn’t live like one, that person would know that I really didn’t believe in Christ, and would see me living a lie by pretending to be something I wasn’t. Not a pretty picture.
- I try to live in a way that will please Christ because I love Him, and want him to be proud of me. It’s a kid thing.
Both of those reasons have to do with love. Hmmm – God is love. Could it be that only God can motivate us to live the Christian life that pleases Him? Maybe we’re finally on to something.
Is there any way to encourage unmotivated Christians to live more as they “should”? Well, since we can only live the Christian life if God’s Spirit fills us, our secret strategy might have to be to help our friends be filled with the Holy Spirit.
