Kevin Lee

Bro. Danny                                  ABIDING IN CHRIST

            Abiding in Christ, what does that mean? Well abiding means to stay with and to remain in something. When they say Abiding in Christ they mean to remain with Him and to stay with Him. Well now that we understand that we can move on. My favorite lesson was the fourteenth, “Expressing the Life of Christ”.

            This lesson is about how we should change to be more like Christ. When you express the life of Christ there is a change. You we should have a heart and a mindset to do the will of God. However, that isn’t enough. You should also have an outward change that everyone can see. God wishes to see us change our lifestyles that we may become more in line with Christ. He wants us to be different from the world. This lesson became my favorite, because of its relation to my life. I lived always thinking that I had to do things, but I never did them. I knew I had to, yet I couldn’t bring myself to it.

            In the first portion I learned that I had to be different from the world. The world is darkened in sin, and I ought to be different. When I thought of that, I felt that I was joining those sinners out there. This lesson helped me to realize that I need to separate myself from them and keep myself closer to God. Brother Danny reminded me that because I love God and because I have a relationship with Him, I should be with Him and follow Him. You see this world has many beliefs that were brought to them by Satan and by sin. The thing is though; Satan uses those beliefs to also make people’s understanding of things sinful. God says to be transformed, not conformed. So, I wish to be different and be closer to God. What I also learned is that I cannot be with God and understand the bible without the Holy Spirit, for I am not holy and I am not pure. God gave me the chance to come and be with Him, and I will take the opportunity.

            In the second part I learned something as well. I learned that if I wish to make a difference in others, I have to be different from them. Christians are there to make a difference. We are meant to help others turn from their sins and receive the gift the God has prepared for them. But before we can help others, we must be different. In order to be different we must put off our old and sinful ways, and put on the new ways of Christ. First, we must put off our old disposition. We must put off our old appearance of sin, our old tendency to sin, and our old actions of sin. Then, we must put off our old desired. We cannot want sin anymore, but rather to be more Christ-like and to just be in line with God. Next, we must put off our old direction. We cannot be headed toward sin anymore, but we need to turn around and walk away from it. As Christians we must put off our sins and put on the new image of Christ. We must become more Christ-like.

            Lastly, I learned that if we want to be different we have to love Christ. Jesus is our teacher for he represents the perfect being. He teaches us how we should act and how we should be. Through His life with His temptations, His pain, His patience, His mercy, His hardships, and much more; we can learn how we should act and how we should think. Not only that, but Jesus Christ is the truth. As he says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”, Jesus is the truth. If we believe these things, then we will begin to try to be like Him and we will become different.

            You see, this lesson really taught me something. It taught me that in order to make a difference I must be different. It also taught me that I can be different by becoming more Christ-like through my actions and my thoughts. This lesson really inspired me to want to be better and to want to try harder to be with God. That is why this is my favorite lesson.