How To Live A Godly Life
Godly living (also called Christian living) is not walking around fluffing up our angelic wings, righting our crooked halos, or even spending 10 hours in our Bibles and 5 hours on our knees daily.
Godly living is not an unattainable, pie-in-the-sky, unrealistic idea. It is certainly not about perfection either.
It's doing our best to live out what we read in the Bible, to apply it to our life in a way that God approves of. Godly living is a lifestyle and a mindset we should strive for every day.
HANG ON A MINUTE
Before we take a look at things that make up a godly lifestyle, I just want to caution you to keep your eyes on Jesus and not on anyone else. It's perfectly fine to look at how someone else lives their life but take it to God and ask him to show you what is best for you and your family.
It may look like the other person you've been observing has it all together and you feel like your life is a mess. Satan will use that to discourage you, friend! Nobody is perfect.
God has a plan for YOU that may be totally different from that other person. Don't allow the devil to heap coals of guilt on your heart because you are not doing what others are doing. We all have things we need to work on in our life, so comparing is simply opening ourselves to condemning guilt and that is not from God.
AREAS OF YOUR LIFE THAT HELP MAKE UP A GODLY LIFESTYLE
WHAT ARE YOU READING?
We all have the same amount of time on our hands and we get to choose what to do with it. When you choose to read, what are you reading? Dust it off if you have to but begin to read your Bible regularly. Regularly, not religiously.
For Additional Reading: How to begin reading the Bible when you don’t know where to start.
Why? Because you can’t live a godly life if you don’t know what one is. Nobody just falls into a godly lifestyle.
The more you read and get to know God the more you want to read and get to know him. You can't short-cut this and think it's good enough that you go to church on Sundays and hear a few verses or read someone’s devotional (or blog post).
Sitting back and listening to the wisdom God has chosen to share with someone else is not enough. God wants YOU to seek HIM.
The Bible is relevant and God's word is personal to each of us (it goes deep into our innermost thoughts and desires) and holds us accountable (one day we must explain all that we have done) to live the way God has commanded.
"For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
(Hebrews 4:12 KJV)
ARE YOU TALKING TO GOD?
Going hand-in-hand with reading your Bible is talking to God about all things, big and small.
Your prayers are as personal and unique as your relationship with God is. Your words do not have to be fancy and long-winded. Jesus did not go on and on when he prayed. He stayed focused on our Father, prayed in His will, and trusted whatever he was praying about was taken care of.
For Additional Reading: Pray Scripture when you need encouragement to keep going.
The less we pray, the more our faith drains from us.
There are so many examples of prayer throughout the Bible but one of my favorites is in Ephesians. It shows me how we are to pray for each other.
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
(Ephesians 3:16-19 WEB)
WHAT ARE YOU FOCUSING ON?
Make a conscious effort to look for ways that God is speaking to and blessing you, then thank him. As Christians, we know there is no such thing as a coincidence. You will begin to see little and big ways God is moving in your life.
For Additional Reading: 8 amazing ways God speaks to us.
Why should you bother going to the effort to look for God's blessings? Because it will rightly adjust your perspective. Besides, every time you recognize a blessing, every time you read God's Word, every time you pray to the Father, every time you fast and put God first instead of your own desires, your faith grows stronger and stronger.
"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
(Romans 12:2 KJV)
WHO ARE YOUR COMPANIONS?
Surround yourself with like-minded Christian friends.
Our perfect example, Jesus, didn't separate himself from non-believers. But his constant companions were believers.
For Additional Reading: How to make Christian friends.
A non-believer is often confused by Christians and simply cannot grasp where you are coming from because God’s ways are not the world's ways.
“Do not be misled. Bad company corrupts good character.”
(1 Corinthians 15:33)
Even the secular world agrees with the above verse. As I was flipping channels on the radio the other day, I heard that a person will begin to act like the people they are with the most.
So who do you surround yourself with? Are they fellow believers? Are they encouraging and uplifting or negative and belittling? Do you spend time discussing temporal (worldly) things as well as the things of God as you each grow?
A godly friend will encourage and challenge you to be the best possible Christian you can be. They will honor your relationship with Christ and seek to be a blessing to you.
"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."
(Hebrews 10:24-25 KJV)
HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR TIME?
How do you spend your free time? As I said before, we all have the same amount of time each day. Yes, you have to work but no matter how much you work or how busy you are, everyone has moments of free time. It could be while in the shower, sitting on the toilet, or standing in line at the checkout.
In those moments, do you pull your phone out and catch up on Facebook, read a verse from your Bible app or pray? It's your choice since God will never force Himself on you. Those little snippets of time will add up quickly.
One of the things I love to do is turn on my praise music while I am in the shower. It allows me to start my day (or end my day) with God in my heart and mind. I am still able to get my daily commitments accomplished without sacrificing my time with my Savior.
Driving is another favorite way of snatching time in my day for my Savior.
Take an honest look at your day and see if you can find little snatches of time that you can focus on God. The length of time doesn’t matter as much as your heart to do so.
"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
(Matthew 6:21 KJV)
WHERE ARE YOUR THOUGHTS HEADED?
You are constantly filling your mind with something so you should pay attention to what that something is.
We need to replace ungodly thoughts with godly ones. That is called renewing our minds and we can't do that without the Holy Spirits’ help. However, He will not do it for us. We have to do our part.
For Additional Reading: Battlefield of the mind.
We don't have control over what thoughts come into our minds (the enemy is great at whispering untruths to us all day long) but when we get those thoughts, we need to run them past God's Word and see if they are good, true, and lovely. If not, we need to force ourselves to turn our thoughts to other things.
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
(Philippians 4:8 KJV)
WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?
We also have to watch our words since we are given the ability to control them. We all say things we wish we could take back but unfortunately, that's not possible.
The old saying is true "If you can't say anything nice, don't say nothing at all."
On the flip side, our words can be a blessing. They can put a smile on the face of someone who has had a really bad day and they can soothe a broken heart.
In the verse below, I do not believe they are talking about curse words as much as negative, untrue speech. We were created to worship God and to bless each other. A corrupt and perverse speech would be anything that does not lift up and edify God and his children. "God loves and blesses everyone but me" is corrupt and perverse speech, as is, "It doesn't matter what I do, God is love so he really won't send me to hell."
"Put away from thee perverseness of mouth, and corrupt lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be well-ordered. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left; remove thy foot from evil."
(Proverbs 4:24-27 DARBY)
FINAL THOUGHTS
Developing a godly mindset and lifestyle takes effort but it's so worth it. If you haven't been doing the above steps, give it a try. Strive to be faithful and not legalistic.
Put yourself in Holy Spirit's hands, be kind to yourself, and know that you will mess up. We all do. But take each mistake to God and repent.
And take heart; every effort you make to be pleasing to God will be noticed and blessed!
YOUR TURN
Is there an area of your life that you struggle with more than other areas? For me, it was learning to get control of my thought life. We learn and encourage each other when we are honest and transparent so comment below and let us know about your struggles and victories in this area.
