6 Rules For Christian Living

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“Always say ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’” “Look both ways before you cross the street.” “Eat three square meals a day.” Life is full of simple rules and guidelines that can help us through the day. While we might not always like rules, we could not survive without them. So what rules and guidelines are out there to help you as a Christian? How do you experience a successful, vibrant, thriving Christian life? Things may not be completely perfect this side of heaven, but you at least want things pointed in the right direction. So where do you begin?

When you look to Scripture, Jesus gives us the most foundational command in Matthew 22, Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Matthew 22:37-38). But what does that look like in your daily life? Sometimes it helps to break things down into bite size, manageable chunks. What follows are six rules or guidelines that can help you truly love God and love others in your everyday world. These are all rooted in Scripture, and these are not the only valid rules out there, just six to help you get going in the right direction. If you can begin to work these guidelines into your daily rhythms and live under these principles, the joy, the life, the freedom you will experience will make it all worth it. Be blessed!

Act like Jesus is right there next to you watching everything you do (because He is).

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Live like what you do matters. Just because God loves you doesn’t mean that you should live like Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross means nothing to you. Once you become a Christian, God begins to transform you into a new creation. We are to put to death our former way of life, our flesh. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). If your pastor followed you around for a week, you would act differently. You wouldn’t send those texts, you wouldn’t lash out in anger, you wouldn’t look at those websites. Act like Jesus is right there next to you watching everything you do, because He is!

Spend more time in the Bible then you do on ________________ (phone, social media, television, video games).

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You fill in the blank, but everyone has something to put in there. For many it might be the very device you’re reading this on. When God begins to transform us, He starts with our minds. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). If you can change the way you think, you can change the way you live. But to change the way you think, you’ve got to put something in it better than social media, talk radio, hours of television, whatever. Read your Bible, listen to it on the way to work, join a Bible study, watch pastors you enjoy online. Spend more time in the Bible than anything else. Make it the dominant influencer of your mind, and you’ll be transformed.

Talk with the Spirit until He talks back, then do whatever He tells you to do.

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“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). We cannot live the successful Christian life without the Spirit within us. It’s just too hard without Him. Depending on your background, your denomination, or what your pastor taught, people are all over the board when it comes to the Holy Spirit. But you need Him, so talk to Him. Talk with God throughout every single day, and learn to recognize His Spirit’s voice speaking back to you through prayer, Scripture, circumstances and other believers. When you get to the place where you hear the Spirit’s voice and you start obeying, everyday becomes an adventure. Don’t be surprised when the Spirit’s voice leads you to other people in need of the hope of Jesus.

Your biggest supernatural impact will come from you leveraging your spiritual gifts.

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Growing up, spiritual gifts might have seemed like extra credit or optional to the Christian life, but they are not. Your spiritual gifts are the primary way that you are going to make a spiritual impact in your world, so you need to know what they are! “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power . . . Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” (1 Corinthians 2:4, 12:7). Go to a website like www.spiritualgiftstest.com and see what yours might be. Serve in a church that allows you to lean into your spiritual gifts, and literally watch the power of the Spirit flow through you to change lives!

Your spiritual growth is a group project.

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This final rule is simply a reminder that you can’t successfully live out the other rules unless you do it with other believers. American culture celebrates those who are self-sufficient and don’t need anyone else, but that’s not how God created us. We are created to live in community. You need your church. Your church needs you. You need other believers. When church becomes optional, everyone suffers. So don’t isolate yourself. Join a Bible study group. Have people over to your house for dinner. Do life with other believers. It is the only way you will truly grow. “From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:16).