I don't know about you but for me salvation is the greatest
promise I could ever receive. That Jesus Christ would step down from his
heavenly throne to pay the penalty for my sins and misdeeds is a
promise beyond compare. The second greatest promise is that I can live
an effective life that never stumbles or falls and receive a rich
welcome into God's eternal kingdom.
In his second letter recorded
in the New Testament of the Bible, Simon Peter, a follower of Jesus
Christ, describes a nine-step process that will render us both effective
and productive in the true knowledge of Jesus Christ. In other words he
promises that if I incorporate certain qualities into my life I can
live a victorious life void of bumbling, fumbling and stumbling.
The
foundation of this effective life is Jesus Christ; the inspiration is
the Holy Spirit. Apart from Jesus and the Holy Spirit the best life
cannot be attained.
The building blocks of the effective Christian life are:
Diligence
Faith
Moral Goodness
True Knowledge
Self-Control
Perseverance
Godliness
Brotherly Kindness
Love
Diligence
Faith
Moral Goodness
True Knowledge
Self-Control
Perseverance
Godliness
Brotherly Kindness
Love
These nine essential qualities are intertwined and work together to produce your best life in Jesus Christ.
Diligence
describes the measure of effort necessary to attain the effective life.
In order to attain the victorious life we must put forth an earnest
effort to make it happen.
Faith is the assurance that what you
cannot see actually exists. Faith is only worthwhile when placed in an
object that is real and has the ability to assist you in your pursuit
for the effective life. This type of faith includes putting your trust
in yourself, others and of course God.
Moral excellence is an
attitude precipitated by faith in God. When you place your full trust in
God then regardless of whether you have the know how you will want to
live a life pleasing to God; you will want to live a holy and righteous
life that brings honor to God.
True knowledge is a second attitude
precipitated by faith in God. Jesus Christ said, "And this is eternal
life to know God and His Son who he has sent." When you decide to accept
God and His Son as Lord of your life you will want to know him so as to
know how to please him. We learn about God and His ways by reading the
Bible and attending classes at a Bible teaching church or school.
Self-control
is winning over the temptations that are innate within you. It is
difficult to live a life pleasing to God by practicing self-control if
you do not know God's requirements. Gaining true knowledge of God and
his ways through sound biblical teaching will give you more tools to
practice personal discipline and live the effective Christian life.
Consistently practicing self-control by subduing your natural appetites
will give you the spiritual muscle to overcome other obstacles thrown at
you by the world and the evil one.
Perseverance is the ability to
consistently overcome the temptations hurled at you by the world and
the evil one. Practicing self-control and perseverance afford you the
opportunity to live a life fully dedicated to God and his kingdom.
Constant defeat will bring guilt and shame and an inability to focus
your energies on achieving the best life God wants for you.
Godliness
is a sincere devoutness to God and His causes. When you give your all
through self-control and perseverance then you will develop an
unyielding devotion and commitment to God and His Kingdom. You will
possess a spiritual and personal confidence bolstered by the Holy Spirit
that will draw others to want to know and honor God and His Son, Jesus
Christ as well.
Brotherly kindness is: loving others because you
truly value them. When we give our whole lives to God in faithful
devotion to Him then we will be completely concerned about what God is
concerned about. A Christian who does not love others is an oxymoron (as
is a Christian who does not smile). God is most concerned about people.
When you put your faith in God to live the abundant life he intended
for you to live then you will be concerned for all people from every
place on the planet. In Jesus Christ there is no caste system. There is
no favoritism. Every human being who ever lived is welcome to join God's
house, to be adopted into God's family. Your best life experienced is
done so when lived in conjunction with others. You cannot live the
effective Christian life alone by yourself.
Unconditional love is
the culmination of a life lived in loving fellowship with God, yourself
and others. When asked about the greatest commandment Jesus replied, "To
love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. The second is to
love your neighbor as you love yourself." Living the previous eight
qualities will lead you to possess the most important quality: love.
These
are nine building blocks of the effective Christian life. If you live
by them you will be victorious every single day of your life.
Unfortunately,
we are not perfect and even the best Christians on the planet stumble
over temptation once in a while. Thanks be to God that he has given us a
remedy for when we do fall. The Bible tells us that when we fall that
we only need to confess or agree with God that we have sinned and the
Lord will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This cleansing is based
not on our personal merit but on the blood Jesus shed on the cross. So
if you fall don't moan and groan about it. Pop right back up, agree with
God that it was a bonehead move and walk on in God's loving hand.
God
wants you to win! Put these nine qualities to work for you and you will
live an effective Christian life and gain a rich welcome into God's
eternal kingdom.
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