As Christians, God calls us to do many things in His name, and He commands us to stop doing things. Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
We must be set apart from this world, in it, but not of it. Christ is the example we are to live out day-to-day… but we all get it so wrong, I’m guilty as charged.
I’ve gathered a short list of four things Christians should stop doing:
ONE | “I’ll Pray For You” — And not actually doing it.
Guilty, guilty, guilty. I might as well say that I’m guilty on every single one of these items because it’s the honest truth. But, how many times do we as Christians hear about people’s needs, struggles or hardships that people are going through and say “I’ll be praying for you” and not actually end up doing it? I know I do, often unfortunately. We do it out of good intention of our heart, and I know the Lord hears our pleas for help, but we need to be faithful, committed, and obedient. As of late, when someone tells me of a hardship, and I say: “I’ll be praying about that” the second our conversation ends I pray a short prayer for them right then and there.
If I can remember to pray for them later, I absolutely do, but I know that God hears my prayer for them even when I’m not sitting down and praying. I also sometimes use Echo, for prayer requests. Check out my blog post on using technology to grow closer to God.
TWO | Sunday Morning Christians — But not living for Christ throughout the week.
Ouch… this one hits home. Far too many times do we make God an item on our checklist we call life. We attend church services like it’s a chore that has to get done, and once we’ve completed it, we move on with our lives. We all need a good knock on the head with the reminder that: God IS our life.
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)If we truly want to see God work in our lives, we must live for God.
Luke calls us to take up our cross daily and follow Him. We must live day-to-day dying to ourselves, serving others, worshiping God in everything we say and do.
THREE | Don’t Compare — Find contentment in Christ.
I can say that God has used my wife tremendously in this area of comparison. I still struggle, but God has taught me not to compare myself, my possessions, circumstances, etc. to those of others. Every time I look at a friend’s Facebook page and think “man, it must be nice to be able to travel so much” or “wow, I would love to have that car!” I’m try to remind myself of my blessings. My salvation, my home, my friends and family, job, pets, car, income, etc. My riches are not on this earth, but they are being laid up in heaven (Matt 6:20).
FOUR | Discretion on Social Media — How we present ourselves.
Finally, this is a little bit of a different topic, but still very relevant. Watch what you post on social media! Period. There are countless verses throughout the New Testament that explain how we are to be examples of our Christ and how He lived. He is our role model.
If we are to have the title of “Christian” we must act like Christ.
A few verses that come to mind are:
Titus 2:7-8 – Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
Matthew 5:14 – You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
1 Timothy 4:12 – Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:1 – Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
1 Peter 2:12 – Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable…
Let us walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…
What are some things you think that you as a Christian, or Christians in general need to stop doing in order to honor the name of Christ? I’d love to hear them.
