Living a godly life for the Christian should be the norm and not the exception. May the following four observations help you as you travel on your own personal journey to holiness.
Recognize, in Christ, we have everything we need to live a godly life.
(2 Peter 1:3) makes this point very clear for we read: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” As Christians God has given us everything we need to live a godly life. For example, He has given us the shield of faith, which we can use to “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16). In addition, Jesus has shown us when we believe and use Scripture against Satan, as Jesus did in his forty day wilderness experience, (read Matthew 4) the devil must flee. Satan is constantly trying to tempt us to sin but God has given us the power to say no to sin and yes to holiness. We must recognize that we are a new creation in Christ and have the ability to now live holy if we allow the Holy Spirit within us to run our lives.
We must constantly read the Bible and hide it in our hearts
(Psalm 119:11) says: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” I have personally found in my own walk with the Lord that being able to call to mind Scripture has proven a great help in allowing me to stay close to Jesus, to discern His will, and stay on the narrow road to leading a holy life. Knowing and meditating on the Word of God has proven a great help in allowing me to say no to the flesh and yes to the Spirit.
Make God’s glory your highest priority and greatest passion in life.
What we prioritize in life often gets done. And finding and developing a passion for something makes life exciting and motivates us to excel and follow hard after the object of our passion. When doing everything in our lives is predicated on bringing God glory, is our number one priority and passion, we will be very careful not to sin, give God all the credit for our successes, and live a life of holiness.
Reverence God at all times
One of the greatest insights the Lord has shown me in my 42 years as a Christian can be found in (Proverbs 16:6). This powerful verse reads: “In mercy and truth Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.” In this verse the word fear is better translated holy reverence and to me having a holy reverence for God helps me so much in staying on the road to holiness. I don’t ever want to do anything in life that dishonors Jesus and brings reproach to His name. Realizing just how awesome God is, how good He is, and how much He loves me, gives me the motivation to reverence Him in everything I do. And the more we reverence God the less likely we will want to do anything that could tarnish His great name.
My friends living a godly and holy life is not only possible but is the most important thing we can do to show our love for Jesus. And I pray that these four observations will help you as you strive to live a life that pleases our Savior.