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Vol - 1/ no. 9                                        September 1999

A True Christian
By Roy Thomas

              Character, according to Webster's New World College Dictionary, is a distinctive mark, Likewise, a Christian's character is what makes him or her distinct from others. There are many characteristics that a believer should have. The ideal Christian should be: obedient, faithful, devout, sincere, watchful, generous, humble and much more, However, for our purposes right now I would like to briefly turn your attention to three of these characteristics: faithfulness, humbleness and obedience.

               First why does a Christian need faith? The answer to this question can be found in Hebrew 11:6, Here it says that faith is necessary to please God. Faith also helps believers to do great things. Hebrew chapter 11 lists many heroes of faith and it tells us what they were able to do because they trusted God. Noah is one of the many heroes of faith. When God told him that there would be a great flood and he should build an arc to save his family, he trusted God. Because of this trust he was ridiculed when he started to build the arc, However, because of Noah's faith in God, his whole family was saved. This shows that if we put our faith in God, he will never let us down!

               Now, a true believer should be humble. In John 13:4, Jesus shows us how. During the time Jesus was on earth, when visitors came in to a home they took off their sandals. A good host offered them water to wash their dusty feet, and usually the lowest servant in the house was ordered to wash the guest's feet. When Jesus washed the feet of his disciple, he was showing each of us how to be humble.

               Finally, Christians must be obedient. Deuteronomy 28, shows us the many rewards for those who obey the word of God. It says, "If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth." This verse was especially true in Abraham's life; when God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac he obeyed God and took Isaac to offer him as a sacrifice to God. When God saw Abraham's obedience he blessed Abraham, and if our omniscient God sees our obedience he will bless us also.

                To sum up, even though we may not have to literally build an arc, wash someone's feet, or sacrifice our son; we must remain faithful, humble, and obedient in all the walks of our lives. As Hentry Hancock once said, "Out of our beliefs are born deeds. Out of our deeds we form habits; out of our habits grow our character we build our destination." If we all make a commitment to have the character of a true Christian, then we can all insure that our destination will be inside the gates of heaven.