There are times I’ve have asked myself this question. Now maybe not in those exact words, but i have asked myself if i’m doing enough as a believer? or if I’m following all the commandments? Am I forgiving enough? Am I loving Jesus more than everything and everyone? Am I doing too much? These questions make me feel a number of ways. One way I feel is bad for asking them and two, glad I did ask them. So what qualifies me as a believer? A true believer? For most of us it’ll be answers like, me going to church every Sunday. Giving to the needy. Not cursing as much as my friends or not having lustful thoughts or even not being mean to people and being kind and nice to people I see. But is that enough? Are those true qualities that God looks for when he identifies his people? Have we adjusted the standards God has given us on how to live a life pleasing to him? Well…it is possible. So how then do we get back on track? How do we know if we’re on the same path that God established beforehand?
Follow Gods Commandments John 14:15 – If you love me you will keep my commandments. If we want to call ourselves Jesus’ disciples, we must follow his instructions. Each family has a set of standards they live by, so the same goes for the family of God. If we step outside those guidelines he has set, we can’t really be called his disciples if we follow our way of thinking. That’s why we need a Savior in the first place. If you love Christ then follow his ways with all your heart.
Don’t Just Hear God’s Word, Do God’s Word James 1:22-25 – But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. If we truly say that we love God and are Christians, we have to be sure that what we hear and read from God is being lived our in our lives. Its hard to believe someone who is giving you advice about working out and how to get a healthier body, when they look nothing like what they have described. They’re not believable. Same goes for us. I don’t care how many times some one may tell me about how much they love God and how good of a Christian they are, when I see no work of what the Bible has instructed us to do. If you are a true believer there should always be evidence every where you go. A true believer is obsessed with making the most of Christ and less of ourselves. So ask yourself, what are you doing? And then after you’ve answered the question, do more. Lets do our best to not just fit God in. He should become apart of every aspect of our lives. From waking up, to cooking breakfast, to working out, washing clothes, devotion and prayer time, driving in the car, all of it is worth praise and acts of gratitude. We can afford to have our goal to be comfortable in this life, when everything about being a Christian requires discomfort stepping away from the ordinary. Its more than being nice and polite and keeping people comfortable to be around you. The purpose of a Christian life is to make the Gospel known to the world by living a life that extends God’s grace and love. Caring for poor and needy and seeking the interests of other more than ourselves. Sacrificing when it hurts and having faith when you just don’t know. So lets be doers. Are you qualified?