How Can I Boldly Live for Christ?
By Vivian Bricker
“And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” - 2 Corinthians 5:15
After graduating from undergrad, I felt lost. I didn’t know what to do with my life and I certainly didn’t know how to boldly live for Jesus on my own. Most of my discipleship had come from my professors and now that I had finished undergrad, I felt as though everything had ended. While my peers were rejoicing and celebrating, I felt deep gloom. How was I going to serve Christ and live boldly for Him without being constantly in classes about theology, missions, and growing in Christ?
This is a conundrum that I have had to work through during my post undergrad life. The good news is that our Christian growth doesn’t have to end once discipleship is lacking in our life. It would be nice to have consistent discipleship, yet sometimes we won’t have someone in our life who can disciple us. It is at these times that we have to find other ways to be discipled and to boldly live for Jesus.
Without discipleship, there is no possible way to live for Jesus. Helping others learn about Him, growing in our own walk, and enhancing our own knowledge of the Bible cannot be done apart from discipleship. When I had first finished college, I thought discipleship had to be done through a physically present person. While this is ideal for many people, there are many different ways to be discipled and therefore, to live boldly for Christ.
We can be discipled by reading the Bible, meditating on the Word, talking with God in prayer, reading devotionals, Christian autobiographies, Christian biographies, and written works by other Christians, watching sermons, talking with other Christians, and being involved in a church. All of these things can help us grow in our walk in Christ and become more mature believers in the Lord. Once we are actively being discipled in various ways, we can boldly live for Christ.
Living boldly for Christ can look different for different people. Many people think mission work is the only way to boldly live for Christ. Mission work is needed and even commanded by the Lord (Matthew 28:18-20), yet we don’t have to wait to go to the nations in order to boldly live for Christ. For some people, this may be traveling overseas and dedicating their life to mission work and for some people, it might look like volunteering at a Christian organization.
Never measure your own Christian walk with others. If you are loving God with your entire heart, mind, body, and soul, you are boldly living for Christ. You don’t have to do something special in order for God to take notice of your love for Him. Being kind to someone even when they are mean to you or letting someone in line ahead of you at the store are all ways you can live for Christ.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
As believers in the Lord, we need to be focused on pointing others to Jesus through our actions and words. In doing so, we will help many come to know Jesus. With a heart of love for Jesus, we can boldly live for Him and bring others to the knowledge of the truth. We don’t have to have a fancy organization, our own ministry, or be a part of a missions team in order to boldly live for Jesus.
Rather, we can start boldly living for Jesus today. All of our actions and words can help point others to the Kingdom. Moreover, we can also help equip the body of believers by discipling them ourselves. This can be done by helping believers in our church, as well as teaching and equipping them in the knowledge of the truth. Each day we are alive, we should want to live for Jesus.
As Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:15, Jesus died for our sins and with this knowledge, we should no longer live for ourselves, but to live for Him. Living boldly for Jesus means that we live for Him. Sometimes, this may mean going the extra mile or doing the hard thing, yet it is what we are called to do. Loving, serving, and obeying God is what we were created to do. We were not created to live for ourselves—we were created to live for God.
With this in mind, try to brainstorm a few ideas of how you can boldly live for Christ this week. Abandon a life of living for yourself and start living a life for Jesus. A few questions to challenge yourself today could be:
- In what ways this week can I live boldly for Jesus?
- Is there anyone I can help disciple this week and help them also boldly live for Jesus?
- What is holding me back from living for Jesus every day?
Further Reading:
Romans 14:8-9
Philippians 1:21-26
Colossians 3:23-24
Photo Credit: Unsplash / Saulo Mohana
Vivian Bricker loves Jesus, studying the Word of God, and helping others in their walk with Christ. She has earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master's degree in Christian Ministry with a deep academic emphasis in theology. Her favorite things to do are spending time with her family and friends, reading, and spending time outside. When she is not writing, she is embarking on other adventures.
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