By Elise Brown

A Christians journey begins with a willingness to accept God’s unconditional love and to give Him this love in return, The Bible says that “God is a God of Love”(1 John 4:8), He has shown us this in several different ways. However there was no greater gift that he has given us than that of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ lived, worked, bled and died. He was sent here by God “that we might have life and have life more abundantly” (John 14:6). He gave his life for our sins that we might be forgiven in Heaven and be granted eternal life with God the Father.

As Christians we are not expected to be Jesus but instead to live by the example that was placed before us as we follow His life here on earth. To be used as a road map to direct us to the promises that God has made to us.

Even though we are called Christians it is important to realize that God and his love were present before Jesus was born. There was evidence of His ability to perform miracles and His worthiness of our praise long before Jesus was conceived by the Virgin Mary. Just as God was present before Jesus, Christians were present before they were called such. We have been taught to more commonly identify them as disciples, the followers of Christ, as read in Acts 11:26. The disciples followed Christ and learned from Him, wrote His life’s journey down for us to read and tried to learn how to become more Christ like, which means walking in accordance to God’s will and purpose for our lives.

A Christian is a person who has made a conscious decision to allow God to order their footsteps, to walk in the purpose that God has ordained for their lives, to seek out that purpose even when the understanding of the time, place and direction that you may go is not to your full understanding. However we have never been left alone without any guidance or any framework as to how we should conduct ourselves, the book of Matthew, with special attention to Chapter 5 and 6 give Jesus’ instruction on how a Christian should live.

However it is very important that we not only read and apply what the Bible says, but that each and every one of us has a one on one personal relationship including prayer and communing with God. That we are able to talk to Him as a Father and we avail ourselves to His desires for us as his children. This begins with us asking Him to come into our lives and turning our worries and cares and sins over to Him. This is scary for many people because it calls for you to expose your innermost flaws, hurts and wrongdoings and it seems like God in all His magnificence will turn away from you. But He is longing to have you come to Him. “We all fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) no one that seeks eternal life with Him is exempt from this step. The amazing part is that HE wants to forgive you, He already knows what we have done, and the shame comes in not asking Him for forgiveness and to take control so that you become the person He has planned for you to become. (See Romans 10-9)

Once this is done, and sometimes done a few more times, God can begin to reshape your entire life. He will begin to guide you and to reveal to you the plans that he has for our lives: the plan that He had for you all along, as he told Jeremiah “I knew you before you were formed in your Mother’s womb” (Jeremiah 1:5-10).

God is inside of each and every one of us, a Christian should exhibit the things that God is. We should not have to walk around and point out to you that we are saved, it should shine from within us. We should be patient and kind. Giving and forgiving. We should be the light in a dark world, the purpose and love of God should pour from us from the inside out, as Christians we should “draw all men unto Thee” John 12:32.

While the perception of a Christian might leave some to believe that we are all the same we are not. Yes we all believe in the same Holy Trinity and yes we study the same Bible, but we are all uniquely created by God. No two people’s journey is the same. Just as no two snowflakes that fall from the sky are identical, nor do any two stars shine the same in the heavens. No two Christians are the same, which is why we are all so important to HIM. We each have a unique destiny to fulfill a secret that God has whispered into each and every one of our souls that make us His own unique gift. Some of us are warriors and others are caregivers. Some of us are singers and others are prayers. The bottom line is that God has made each of us to his specifications, tailor-made to fulfill His purpose.

What is a Christian a Christian is a person like you and I who has made the choice to have faith in thing unseen, to love our enemies, to press towards a higher mark. A Christian is a person who has decided to answer God’s call and walk in His purpose for their lives with the reward of Salvation.

Who is a Christian? Maybe you are and you just don’t know it yet.