Many people claim to be Christians, but the life they live is the opposite of what they claim. It’s one thing to profess to be a Christian and another to live it out. It’s not merely about claiming to be a Christian; it’s about living a life that reflects the claim. Even a native doctor might say, “I’m a Christian,” and similarly, a criminal caught doing evil would say, “Yes, I’m a Christian” when questioned. Additionally, after playing what they call a fast game, the “Yahoo boys” would attend church to give Thanksgiving.
It is the duty of every family member—Father, mother, and children— to live out what they claim to be. It’s not just about saying, “I’m a Christian”; it’s about the living aspect of it that both people and God expect from us (Matthew 5:16). As the Bible says, “By their fruits, you shall know them (Matthew 7:16). The fruits refer to your behaviour, lifestyle, and the different things you do. When we talk about the Fruit of the Spirit, it represents the life of Jesus Christ. However, when we say “By their fruits,” it means the different lifestyles of a person. These different lifestyles include your lifestyle as a husband with your wife, with other people in the church, at home, and everywhere else. Holiness is expected all the way (1 Peter 1:15-16). That is why the Bible says we shall know them by their fruits – meaning your different manifestations or lifestyles as a child of God.
WALKING AND LIVING A CHRISTIAN LIFE
A Christian life is a life that has been called out from the multitude, the world, and sin (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). This is where many believers miss out. They lack the understanding that the One they claim to belong to is living and walking in them. The Apostle Paul said, “The life I live now in the flesh is no longer my life” (Galatians 2:20). Therefore, having this understanding that the life I live in the flesh now is no longer my life, I should be able to model my life in a way that people will see Jesus Christ in my living because the life I live now is no longer my life. My life died the day I accepted Jesus Christ. My pattern of living died the day I accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. From that moment, it is His life that exists in me.
So, from the moment you accept Jesus Christ, it’s no longer you who lives; it’s He who lives in you. Therefore, without you introducing yourself, people should be able to look at your life and say, “Yes, this person is indeed a child of God.” If you’re born again and want to live a Christian life, you must come out from among them and separate yourself from your bad and unbelieving friends, from worldliness and every uncleanness. If you’re born again and your best friend is an unbeliever, you are missing out; you’re working against God’s word because that’s not the word of God. A tree is known for its fruit.
According to the book of Revelation 18:1-5, all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and also the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. Therefore, it doesn’t matter the level of the person committing the iniquity; separate yourself from that person. Even if the whole earth, including your family, is plunging into evil, as a child of God, you should not follow them because your life differs from theirs (Isaiah 52:11). That’s why I encourage people not to make anyone their role model. Let Jesus Christ be our role model.
A LIFE OF HOLINESS
A Christian life is a life that is clean and void of sin at all times (Acts 24:16). A Christian should be able to look into their life and say, “Yes, my life is void of sin.” Please don’t allow them to deceive you by saying that a fish that lives in water can’t deny water. It’s possible for you, by the help of the Holy Spirit, to stay away from sin (Philippians 4:13). The difference between us today and the Old Testament prophets such as Noah, Moses, Enoch, and Elijah, who did exploits in their generation, is that the prophets had the empowerment of the Holy Spirit but not the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But we, in our dispensation, have a better opportunity than the prophets because we have the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19; Colossians 1:27).
Therefore, if someone like Enoch, who didn’t have the Holy Spirit dwelling in him, was able to walk with God and no sin was found in him and he was raptured, then you, who have the Spirit of God dwelling in you, why are you falling in and out of sin? That means it’s not the Holy Spirit you have inside you. If the Holy Spirit is inside of you, what is expected outside? Holiness – that is your Christian living. If the Holy Spirit is inside you, your Christian living should not have any iota of doubt. A vessel is operated by what is inside. If an evil spirit possesses a man, that man will be doing evil, but if the Holy Spirit possesses a man, that man will do holy things. When you find yourself going contrary to the word of God, know that another spirit has taken over (Romans 7:23) because you can’t have the Spirit of God in you and be watching pornography.
MANIFESTING JESUS CHRIST
Living a Christian life requires everything in you to manifest Jesus Christ. Let people see Jesus Christ in you. You can’t say you have the grace of God and still meddle with sin (Titus 2:11-15). We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world – that is our Christian life. A Christian life is a life of soberness, a life of sanctification, a life of holiness. Jesus Christ gave Himself to redeem us from all iniquities, not some. Therefore, you’re not allowed to leave any iniquity inside of you.
Matthew 7:21-27 says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” What is the will of the Father? It’s for you to live holy (Hebrews 12:14; 1 Peter 1:16). That’s the will of the Father that your life will become like His; you should live out His life on earth. God is looking at you doing His will, living the life of a child of God. The healing and deliverance you’re conducting, or the miracles you perform, will not, in any way, open the gates of heaven for you; they don’t attract God’s attention to you in any way. What brings God’s attention to you is the Christian life you live. Fight not to be deceived (Matthew 24:24). When it comes to an elect being deceived, it doesn’t come pronounced; it comes as it happened in the Garden of Eden – softly.
AVOIDING THE WORLD’S INFLUENCE
Whosoever wants to become a friend of the world has declared themself an enemy of God (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17). The world we’re talking about is not the atmospheric world we inhabit; it’s the system of the world – the wickedness, the fashion, the desires of things of the world. Hate the behaviour of the world with a passion. The Bible says, how can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? (Psalm 137:4-6) As a child of God, how can you use your phone to do evil, to subscribe to wickedness, to subscribe to worldliness?
Love, not the world. Hate the passion of the world; don’t admire it. The passion and admiration of the production making money has led our youths and teenagers to engage in money rituals that cut their lives short. Everyone who engages in such an act doesn’t live more than fifteen years from the moment they become involved in that evil. There’s a way that seems right unto a man, but the end is destruction (Proverbs 14:12-16).
STANDING ON THE RIGHT PATH
Stand on the right path, live a Christian life, and God will never forsake you (Psalms 37:25-26; Romans 10:11). Hold onto righteousness (Psalm 84:10-12). Everything about God pleased David. David said, “I was glad when they said unto me, ‘Let’s go into the house of God’” (Psalm 122:1). Sacrifice many things for the sake of God’s kingdom. Stay away from the love of the world. If you do the will of God, you’ll stay forever. Forever, even after now, you’ll still be in heaven.
My prayer for each of you is that you start living this Christian life. It’s possible. Live the Christian life to obtain the price (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). What you’re preaching, you’re expected to live. What you say, you’re expected to live. You must subject your body by bringing it under control to live the life of a Christian. It’s an everyday fight – the flesh against the Spirit (Romans 12:1).
You have Satan, the devil, who wouldn’t want you to live out your Christian life the way you ought to. We have one common enemy. If you think that you don’t have an enemy, it’s a lie. The day you said, “Jesus Christ, I am for you,” you were enlisted as one of his enemies. That enemy is Satan, the devil.
So you must be conscious of this; otherwise, Satan will beat you hands down. You must constantly, daily, bring your body under subjection so that you can live out the Christian life. If you live your life by chance, you’ll have yourself to regret. Only the name “You’re a child of God” is a threat to the kingdom of the devil. So, you must be conscious of who you are. Live your life as a child of God because every day, Satan is looking for a way to corrupt your testimony or to make you sin against God. Every day, Satan is looking for a way for you to curse God (Job 2:9).
LIVING AS A CHILD OF GOD
Let your life indeed show that you’re a child of God. If you live like God, His presence will not be far from you. Whatever magnifies God’s name, God stands to protect it (Matthew 18:20). So if your life magnifies God, God will always stand by that fact. When a man’s way pleases the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7). So live a life as a child of God, and you’ll always have His presence around you.
A PRAYER FOR GUIDANCE
As a child of God, pray and say, “Father, correct me today. Open it up to me. I have heard your word today, and I know that you want me to return, you want me to make corrections. Who can understand his errors? Father, help me. Help me, Lord Jesus Christ.”