Living a life that pleases him
When we live how He wants us to live, God blesses our life here on earth. We also earn heavenly rewards when we are his child and our lives are God honoring. So how do we know what pleases Him? How can we be sure we are living the way he wants us to live? The answers to those questions (and more) are found in the Bible! Scripture is our guide book for living the Christian life. This instruction manual from God tells us things to guard ourselves against, people to beware of, and gives us direction for our lives.
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children.
Ephesians 5:1
How do children follow? They do as they are told when they want to please someone, they imitate people they find fascinating, and they go above and beyond what they are asked to do when they want a special reward. Shouldn’t we be thus with our Lord? We ought to fall in love with Jesus so completely, that we want to be like him. We should have a desire to go above and beyond what he asks us to do, and to please him with our lives!
Jesus’ life – our example to follow
For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
1 Peter 2:21-24
Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
A list of what Jesus’ “footsteps” look like are given in this passage in 1 Peter.
- Jesus did not sin. Unfortunately, unlike Jesus, we are not perfect. We will sin. However, we should strive to live as sinless as possible. Here is where the Bible and the Holy Spirit really come into play. If you are saved, the Holy Spirit lives inside you and will let you know when you have sinned. You will feel like a dog as soon as you act in a way that displeases God. Go to him in prayer as quickly as possible, and ask forgiveness! These verses also say there was no guile found in Jesus’ mouth. Guile means deceit, sly or cunning language. Jesus wasn’t a liar. He wasn’t out to get someone, or living his life to only satisfy himself. We shouldn’t be either!
- When others mistreated Jesus, he never retaliated. When someone has an attitude with us, we want to have an attitude in return. meanness is never the answer for meanness. Jesus’ suffering and persecution only made him more resolute to do the will of God. We must show the love and kindness of Christ to others, regardless of how they treat us.
- Jesus truly bore our sin and shame. He took on our sin debt, and paid the ultimate price by going to the cross of Calvary so we could go to heaven. We should bare the burdens of others. Not necessarily physically, and we should not spend our lives as a martyr for every cause that comes our way. The Bible is very clear about what kinds of organizations and causes you should stand for. But we should have such a spiritual burden for the lost, that we personally take on the responsibility of being a witness for Christ. Physically – pray for others, help out when you can. Spiritually- pray for others, be a witness by following Christ, and give them the gospel!