When we become Christians or rededicated, we may ask ourselves, “Who am I?” It is easy to tell someone, “you are a new creation,” and send them on their way. It is totally correct to call someone a new creation, because it is perfectly paraphrased from 2 Corinthians 5:17. Logically, this tells the person that they are made anew and the slate is clean. Who are we? What do we do?
As Christians, there are a lot of parallel names we identify ourselves with. Here are just a few:
Brand New:
We are new creations, in Christ.
As Paul wrote, the old is dead and Christ is alive in us (Galatians 2:20). We are not saying we are perfect, because scriptures clearly tell us we are still sinners. But, we are saying that we will strive to abstain from sin and repent from our slips. Christ lived a perfect life and never sinned; we should strive to be like Him.
Pray:
Talk to your Dad; have a personal relationship with Him.
The Bible tells us to talk to God. This is called prayer. You can talk to God like you talk to anyone else. He wants to hear from us. This does not have to be done in some formal fashion; just talk to Him. And this can be done anywhere at any time, even while you’re walking down the street. Even though He already knows you and everything about you, He wants you to seek that relationship with Him. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to, “pray without ceasing,” and Luke 185:1 says, “…pray and not lose heart.
Have Faith:
We are told to be faithful.
As Christians, we are encouraged to live by faith. But, what exactly is faith? In Hebrews 11:1, the book’s unknown author says that, “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Once we start doing this, we learn to become reliant on God. When we see Him doing awesome stuff in our and others’ lives (and He will) this will increase our faith.
Seek the Word:
God wrote us a love letter.
This love letter is called the Bible. God used many people, whom He chose, to write this letter from Himself to us. If we want to know God, then we should read His Word. When we form a relationship with someone, we strive to communicate with them to know them better; this is a major way God speaks to us. The funny thing about The Word is that at different strides of life, we will gather different interpretations from The Word. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…"
Spread the Word:
We are disciples of Christ.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a disciple as, “one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another.” In the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19), Jesus tells his disciples (now us) to, “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” We all want to go to Heaven, but what good is going to Heaven if we don’t want others to come with us? If we truly love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we should want them to go to Heaven as well.
Submit:
Submit ourselves to God.
Submission - Ooohhh... This is the not-so-desirable one, in human eyes... The word, "submission," we sometimes consider a "bad word". As Christians, we are called to submit - to drop our own self and become more like like Jesus. He submitted to God's will for us; He died in order for all of us to live eternally. Did He want to do that? No. Was He called to do this for us? Yes... The huge question is this: Did He follow through and submit to His (our) Father's will? The answer is,"yes." There is evidence that He didn't want to endure being whipped and hung on a cross to death for our thousands of years worth of sins. In Luke 22:42, He prayed, “...Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” We know the end of the story: He died a painful death, but resurrected VICTORIOUS!!! This is the most extreme instance, but nevertheless, God asks for our submission in good times and bad. God just wants us to submit in our everyday lives with things like our time (prayer), social media (posting encouraging stuff), and other things. He wants to be involved in everything we do. It's God's will, not ours, remember?... Submission's outcome means that in the long-run, we will get God's best, instead of our own ideal, lesser value, "best". In the outcome, God was victorious when His Son was resurrected. James 4:7 says, "submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Paul wrote, in Ephesians 5:21, to, "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."
Light the way:
We are a guiding light for others:
Matthew 5:14 says that we, “are the light of the world.” Furthermore, 1 Peter 2:12 tells us to, “live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." We should live our lives, day in and day out, as we think Jesus would. Sometimes, it is not easy, but who, besides us, will be a guiding light for others to see? The scriptures say that even the non-believers should, IN A GOOD WAY, recognize us and praise God that we exist.
Grow:
We should continually seek to grow.
Read, pray, seek community with others who are like minded, and grow as a child of God. Seek accountability from someone (preferably the same gender) who will boldly "call you out" when you slip. With these aspects, we can grow to be the Jesus freaks God wants us to be!
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