Then Jesus said to them all, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23)
But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (James 1:22)
The results of an in-depth project by LifeWay Research were released recently. You can read an article about the study HERE. According to the study, eight marks of a strong follower of Christ are:
- Bible engagement
- Obeying God and denying self
- Serving God and others
- Sharing Christ
- Exercising faith
- Seeking God
- Building relationships
- Unashamed transparency
How are you doing in each of these eight areas? Give yourself a self-evaluation for each one. Let “0” be an indication that this area is not in your life at all, and let “10” be you giving yourself a perfect score in this area. Therefore “80” would be a perfect score.
What score did you give yourself? What score would the Lord give you? What score would your family give you?
Take the list above, and praise God for the area you are strongest in. Ask the Lord in prayer to help you to continue to be strong in that area.
With each of the areas, take time to pray and ask the Lord how He wants to strengthen you. Then, write down some action steps. And then begin to do them.
Remember, Christians are Christ-followers. That indicates movement: maturing, growing, developing, going somewhere. God wants us to be strong in all eight of the ways mentioned above. Let’s follow Jesus. He was perfect in all of them. And He will empower you as you follow Him.