A Higher Calling

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,
so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel

Philippians 1:9-11, 27

I often refer as a reminder of what my life should look like as a child of God to this passage. We are supposed to live in a manner that is worthy of the gospel of Christ. What a high calling we have upon our life!

So what exactly does a follower of Christ look like? Paul gives us an idea in his prayer as to what that should reflect:

We should have a heart full of love.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34

We should have a mind filled with God's knowledge.

Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-he will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:22-25

We should have a spirit that is so discerning that it leads towards purity and blameless living.

May He strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

1 Thessalonians 3:13

We should have a life that overflows with the fruit of righteousness.

Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. James 3:18

When we choose to follow Christ, we are accepting a completely new set of standards that are far from anything we could ever accomplish in our own strength. We could never hope to reach the pinnacle of what God calls us to without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

None of these things will we ever be able to gain on our own but are all available when we pray and seek after Him. Then and only then will we inherit these incredible attributes through Jesus Christ bringing honor and glory to God by living a life worthy of His gospel.