In a 1988 sermon, John Piper identified these three biblical phrases as descriptors of what it meant to live the Christian life:
1) Living by faith in the Son of God (Gal. 2:20)
2) Walking by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16)
3) Serving in the strength that the Lord supplies (I Peter 4:11).
He concluded his description with this summary:
“Now if we put all this together, we can say that when you live the Christian life, you live so that hour by hour Christ gets trusted, you get helped, people get served, and God gets glory.”
Wouldn’t it be amazing if people looked at our lives and could say that these things were what defined it? What if each hour, we were intentional in trusting God – knowing that He will faithfully fulfill HIs promises to provide and protect and accomplish His purposes? What if we regularly reminded ourselves that the Christian life is not lived alone but that the Spirit is providing HIs help and comfort? These two things would prompt us to diligently serve, relying not on our own strength, but on what God supplies. And as a result He would be glorified in our lives – hour by hour, day by day, for our lifetime.
Being a Christian is not always easy, but if we remember this description perhaps it would seem a little less complicated. And perhaps we would more faithfully walk as Jesus did (I John 2:6).