In the half-century that I have
been around I have come to the conclusion that it is imperative for me to live
a Godly life. I want to please my Lord
and Saviour and I want to be gracious as I grow older. As I have been thinking about what it takes
to get to living such a live I want to share my thoughts with you.
How to live a Godly
life?
Let’s start by following the Lord
Jesus’s instructions as it is written in Mark 12: 29 – 31 (CEB) and Jesus
replied, “The most important one is Israel, listen! Our God is the one Lord,
and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being,
with all your mind, and with all your strength.
The second is this, you will love your neighbour as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.”
Imitators
Because I am human and have
problems with my fellow man I will get angry and upset with them, family and
neighbour. How to deal with my
frustrations and get on with my live turning more Godly? The Lord Jesus speaks to us in John 13: 15 ‘I
have given you an example, that as I have, so should you do.’ Here’s the first part we need to do ‘follow
by example’, and to confirm this Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11: 1 ‘Imitate me
as I imitate Christ.’ So we need to
read, learn and follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
Another scripture to consider is Ephesian 5: 1 ‘Be imitators of God as
dear children’.
Disobedient
Since I didn’t always allow
myself to be obedient and follow the Lord’s footstep, the word says that in
Matthew 12:44 “… the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.” Now there is a chance for the devil to come
and move in. I was the one who neglected
to stay in the word of God. Making me
lukewarm as a Christian, weakening me in my trails and testing’s.
Turning back
Proverbs 8: 17 – 21 ‘I love those
who love me, and those who seek me find me.
With me are riches and honour, enduring wealth and righteousness, along
the paths of justice, bestowing wealth on those who love me and making their
treasuries full.’ I now start to study
the scriptures and look to become more like the Lord. I want to chance my unrighteousness into
righteousness.
Psalms 1: 1 – 3 ‘Blessed is the
man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of
sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he mediates
day and night. He is like a tree planted
by streams of water, which yields it fruit in season and whose leaf does not
wither. Whatever he does prospers.’
John 14: 21-27 ‘Whoever has my
commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I too will love him and show myself to him.
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to
show yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My father will love him, and we will come to
him and make our home with him. He who does
not love me will not obey my teaching. These
words you hear are not my own, they belong to the Father who sent me. All this I have spoken while still with
you. But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit
whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind
you of everything I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not
be afraid.”
Repentance of Sin
2 Chronicles 7: 14 “If my people,
which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my
face, and turn from their wicked ways;
then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal
their land.” As I consider my position I
have realised that there are things that aren’t right in my own life, I have to
repent and change my ways. Coming back
to the Lord my God.
Read you Bible
We teach our children in the
Afrikaans Sunday Schools to ‘read your Bible and pray each day, so that you are
able to grow spiritually.’ This is my
advice too, read your Bible and pray each day.
James 1: 22 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive
yourselves.” And Matthew 4: 4 Jesus answered,
“It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that
comes from the mouth of God.’” 2 Timothy
3: 6 says ‘All scripture is inspired by God and profitable [for something] for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;’
With these scriptures I am able to
meditate on God’s word, learn to imitate Him and live a Godly life.
Allow God to change me
Ezekiel 36: 26 – 27 “I will give
you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart
of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be
careful to keep my laws.” I have come to
that point in my life that I need to allow the Lord my God to change me. I have to let this happen so that I am able
to grow spiritually. Taking the
responsibility for my own life, look at what Ephesians 4: 24 says “and to put
on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” By clothing myself each day with Jesus I will
become a new person. My ways start to
change, it will be seen by others on how I speak to them, what I say and what I
do. People will notice on my person what
I wear and look like, how I react and what my likes and dislikes will be
like.
James 1: 21 says ‘therefore, rid
yourselves of everything impure and every expression of wickedness, and with a gently
spirit welcome the word planted in you that can save your souls.’
Persecution
In 2 Timothy 3: 12 ‘in fact, everyone who
wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,’ people will
find you difficult to live with, it will frustrate them because your life style
with clash with theirs. They will
persecute you because you do things soberly and consciously not wanting to make
a fool of yourself or embarrass yourself.
Daily Devotion
In Ephesians 1: 16 Paul reminds
us to pray for a “Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation” now then also pray this
prayer with me Ephesians 1:16-23 (CEB) ‘I don’t stop
giving thanks to God for you when I remember you in my prayers. I pray that
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, will give you a spirit
of wisdom and revelation that makes God known to you. I pray that
the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s
call, what is the richness of God’s glorious inheritance among believers, and what is the overwhelming greatness of God’s power that is
working among us believers. This power is conferred by the energy of God’s
powerful strength. God’s power
was at work in Christ when God raised him from the dead and sat him at God’s
right side in the heavens, far above every ruler and
authority and power and angelic power, any power that might be named not only
now but in the future. God put
everything under Christ’s feet and made him head of everything in the church, which is his body. His
body, the church, is the fullness of Christ, who fills everything in every way.’ In praying this prayer we will allow the Lord
to open our spiritual eyes to His word, and help us in our development.
Their point of view
It is really difficult for me to
see other people’s point of view when I want it my way. So now I am learning to just give others the
right to their own point of view. I don’t
know everything and should allow others to discover their own way to the Lord
and not try and enforce it on them. Difficult lesson for me but I am working on
this.
Accommodating
Because I have become so set on
having my own way it is difficult for me to accommodate other people. “It’s my way or the highway.” Now, I have to understand that not everybody
will do as I say. I have to practice restraint
and patience and learn to understand them.
I also have to love my enemies, because God loves them and me.
Serve others
Caring for other people is
something we need to do each day, I have teenagers. I also need to care about other people, those
in need. James 2: 16 “if one of you says
to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical
needs, what good is it?” So when you can help your fellow man, the one who is
struggling. Give with a happy heart,
clothing or food and if you can with money.
What goes around comes
around
If you treat others
disrespectfully, be sure it will come back to you. Treat each other with respect and kindness;
do unto others as you want done unto you.
Peace in the home
In 1 Thessalonians 4: 11 ‘Aim to live quietly, mind your own
business, and earn your own living, just as I told you’. By living a peaceful live we must guard
against becoming filled with pride, which simply is judging other people and
thinking we are that much better than they are.
Allowing ourselves to be filled with pride; we are allowing sin to come
back into our lives. Pride is sin, when
we have so much pride we become greedy, we lust after, we hate other and other
sins come out.
Spread the good news!
Living a Christian life requires we
share the Good News! Speak to people
about what God has done for each of you.
Be a living testament to the Lord.
I never allow people to say bad things about my God. I stand up for what I believe. God loves you.
Go to church
In living a Godly life you need
to fellowship with other Christians, we grow by going to Church and learning
the word of God. People need people to
grow spiritually. Fellowship with other
Christians makes the word come to life.
God works through each one of us and we need to be there for each other.
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