New: Listen to
I have just finished my teachings on the Fruits of the Spirit. As I was seeking the Lord on what my next series should be on, he revealed to me to teach on decision making. So, my next few teachings are going to be on the topic of decision making as followers of Christ. I am not sure how long this series will last, I will let that up to the Lord. We live in a fast world, and often we must make decisions more quickly, than what we should be. We can make decisions from what we will wear to who we will marry, or what job offer we will take. As this is my first teaching on my series of decision making, I would first like to talk about the most important decisions someone can make in their life. That decision is to accept Christ as your savior and live your life according to the word of God.
You might be reading this, and you might be someone who recently made the choice to follow Christ, or you might be someone who has been following Christ for several years, or all their life. There might be someone reading this who has never made the decision to follow Christ. Regardless of where you are with your relationship with Christ, we must discuss the importance of this decision and the actions that should follow afterward.
So why do we decide to follow Christ? Everyone who is a true follower of Christ who has made the choice had something that brought them to Christ. There was something at that moment that they gave their life to Christ, that makes it unique for each person. For me, I was in elementary school. My parents were born again, and I remember seeing the joy they had within them since they made the choice to follow Christ. I got jealous and wanted the same thing, after understanding what Christ did for us, I accept Christ as my savior at a young age. One of my favorite scriptures on following Christ is John 3:16 (KJV) which tells us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”. This is such a powerful verse, God cares and loves each one of us, that he gave His only son to save us from the Lake of Fire. 1 John 4:8 reminds us, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”.
Following Christ does not just mean saying a prayer and you become a follower of Christ. When you become a follower of Christ, your sinful past becomes old, and new things are ahead. Everything of your past becomes forgiven by the blood of Christ, and you become a new creation in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) confirms this, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”. When you are in Christ you must not be worried about things of this sinful world but allow God to work in you. We need to be more worried about being successful in God’s eyes rather than in the eyes of the world. In high school, my class picked me as ‘Most Likely to Succeed’, let me just say that was an honor to have my classmates think highly of me, but my priority in life is to be as successful as possible in God’s eyes rather than in the eyes of the world. Why must we as followers of Christ spend more time trying to please the world, than to please God? Yes, we must work and pay the bills, but we cannot let that hinder us from bearing good fruit to please the Lord. The things of this world are only temporary, we as followers of Christ should be worried about our eternity rather than the temporary aspects of this world. Isaiah 65:17 (ESV) tells us, ““For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.”. We must look to God to transform our mind, by spending time in prayer and reading His word. Romans 12:2(NLT) instructs us: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”.
So, as I continue this teaching series of decision making, I want you to fully analyze your life. Ask yourself the following questions.
- Are the decisions you are making reflecting Gods word on your life, or are they trying to please the people of the world?
- Are you in any sinful behavior right now?
- Are there any trials going on in your life?
- Do people know you as a Christian by your actions, or by your Facebook page biography?
Ask yourself these questions and answer them honestly. In my upcoming teachings, I will touch on each of these individually and how they apply to decision making as a follower of Christ.