What Are the Important Characteristics that Cause Authentic Christians to Stand Out?
- Michelle Treacy Contributing Writer
- Published May 13, 2024
What are the most important characteristics of a Christian? A Christian is a person who follows Jesus, believing He lived, died, and rose again so that we can be forgiven by God for our sins. Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf made a way for us to be in the right relationship with God. When we put our faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God lives in us, starting a change that results in the development of these important characteristics: love, joy, peace, forbearance or restraint, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Apostle Paul wrote to Galatians:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking, and envying each other.”- Galatians 5:22-26
What Makes Christians Different from Other People?
What makes Christians different than the rest of humanity, identifying us as followers of Jesus? When asked, “What is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus said that Christians are to “love God with all our heart, soul and mind, and to love our neighbors as ourselves” (Matthew 22). According to Jesus all of the commandments found in the Old Testament are hung on these two commandments alone.
Christians should stand out in their everyday lives. On a typical Monday morning stuck in traffic, at home with a grumpy teen or toddler, caring for sick relatives, or navigating a horrible day. Loving Jesus has an incredible impact on our lives. The Bible talks a lot about our confession of faith, and how our belief in Jesus is not a secret to be hidden away, but rather a truth that we should reveal to others as an example. So, our everyday responses to life should reflect the characteristics like patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control, being developed in us as we follow Jesus.
Living as followers of Christ Jesus allows us to experience the work and direction of the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Holy Trinity, in our lives. The Apostle Paul also wrote to the Galatians about the Holy Spirit leading in our lives and revealing the fruits of the Spirit in our daily lives (Galatians 5). Living a life with Jesus should, therefore, produce the fruit of good, godly character in us.
How Is Love Unique for Christians?
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Christians try to emulate the love that is described in 1 Corinthians 13, aiming to mature and become a good representation of Jesus to the people around us. Christian love is relational and not transactional, patient and not rushed. Those around Christians should feel much more appreciated, wanted, and loved, not as if they were being brushed aside.
How Do the Characteristics of Christians Help Them in Hard Times?
Followers of Christ are people of Joy, even during trials and storms of life. Remembering we are anchored in Christ, we remain hopeful no matter the storm that we battle, or trial we cannot overcome. We understand and and have faith Jesus is with us and will bring us through hard seasons in life. As believers, we continue to rejoice, praising God for the good Father He is, in the midst of hard things. We can do this because the Joy of the Lord is our strength! This hopeful countenance appears odd to the onlooking world. It shocks some of our friends to see us praising Jesus in the middle of a battle and it is meant to be a testimony to the goodness and faithfulness of our God!
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Why Should Christians Stand Out in a Crowd?
To someone who has yet to know Jesus, Christian patience, forbearance, and self-control often stand out from the way the rest of the world behaves. In a world that fends for and only looks after itself, Christians seek to be a light for Jesus, which attracts the attention of those the Lord is pursuing. The point of following Jesus is to allow Him to change and grow us, and then we get to tell the people He places in our lives all about Him! Sharing the Gospel truth of Jesus Christ and the freedom God offers everyone through Him is the point and purpose of every life and an important characteristic of being a Christian. It is in those moments that we get to talk about God's plan for our lives and how we get to partner with Him to remind people they are loved and that God has plans for their lives, too.
The people in our communities should be able to use the words kind, good, faithful, and gentle as characteristics of their Christian neighbors. As Christians, we represent Christ, who is a safe haven of love to the broken, destitute, outcast, and unwanted. It’s our job to spread the love of Jesus in our communities, our churches, our schools, our workplaces, and our streets, and allow the good and kind nature of our God to shine through us wherever we go.
The Purpose of a Christian’s Life Is to Give Glory to God.
The characteristics of Christians are mini lighthouses that illuminate the goodness of God and the truth that living your life with Jesus really is better than going at it alone. In Jesus we are loved, safe, secure, heaven bound, and it impacts how we live our lives.
The beauty of following Jesus every day is the good fruit (important characteristics) produced by the work of the Holy Spirit, in our lives. It isn’t so we can be more religious or legalistic, egotistically showing off how great we are. The mission of Christianity is to develop godly characteristics in our everyday lives in order to show off the love and the grace of God wherever we go and to whom ever we meet. We live in a broken world that needs a glimmer of heaven on earth. Christians who walk and talk and become like Jesus really are important.
I do hope you know the truth of the gospel in your life, and you are walking in the spirit, drumming to the beat of the spirit's drum and listening as He seeks to edify you, change you, and produce the holy fruit of the spirit in you. But if not, please reach out to your nearest church, contact me or someone at Christianity.com, we would love to introduce you to Jesus. He loves you in a way you have never been loved, sacrificially, unconditionally, and eternally. Isn’t that wonderful!
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