How to Be a Good Christian

 

Being a good Christian involves living with purpose. It is more than merely adhering to a set of religious beliefs or set of values. It requires a love of God and making your life’s purpose to serve Him. When you do this you will love others also. A good Christian life involves an active and transformative journey of faith lived in the Church Christ established for our healing, This involves nurturing our faith, taming our passions, developing virtues, and seeking repentance. These are all key elements for living a good Christian life.

Faith: To be a good Christian we must have relationship with God based on love. The foundation of this relationship is faith. As Orthodox Christians, we are encouraged to approach our faith with reverence, recognizing the mystical reality of the universe and God’s presence in all things. We see Scripture as a sacred account, a story told by eyewitnesses who encountered God's divine revelation. We should read it as a story and not as a philosophical or historical work. The Gospel story revels great mysteries about God and how with His love for humankind, He set about to prepare all of us for eternal life in His kingdom. By immersing ourselves in the Gospel story, we gain a deeper understanding of God's love and realize our purpose.

Nurturing Faith: Our faith needs to be nurtured. This involves regular participation in the life of the Church; attending services and actively engaging in the sacraments, especially Holy Communion. This allows us to receive God's grace needed for spiritual growth. We must also establish a daily routine of reading Scripture and praying for His help. By dedicating time to these practices, we open ourselves to a deeper communion with God. Bt surrounding ourselves with friends who share our faith provides encouragement and support for a good Christian life.

Taming Passions: Orthodox Christianity recognizes that we are engaged in a struggle against our passions, those desires that lead us away from God. These stem from our fallen condition and are amplified due to the evil forces in this world. Fasting is an important discipline prescribed by the Church to helps us gain mastery over these passions. By following fasting guidelines offered by the Church, we learn to control our physical appetites and redirect our focus towards God. This gives us the discipline needed to control all the other passions. To become a good Christian we need to understand all our weaknesses and acknowledge our bad habits. By recognizing our vulnerabilities, we can actively combat and overcome them with God's help.

Developing Virtues: Being a good Orthodox Christian also requires the cultivation of virtues. These are the qualities that reflect God's character. These are found in the commandments given to us by Jesus and the way he lived. The most important one is love. Loving God with our whole heart and loving others, even our enemies.  Knowing our weaknesses leads to knowing the virtues we most need to intentionally practice. For example, if we struggle with anger, we can actively pursue the development of patience. Through intentional and consistent practice, the essential virtues become part of our character, guiding our actions and interactions with others. In this way we align ourselves more closely with the example of Christ. Becoming like Him is the nature of a good Christian.

Repentance: God is forgiving and wants to help us. Recognizing our mistakes and seeking forgiveness and committing to changing our way of thinking and acting, is an essential aspect of the Christian life. None of us are perfect. We should each day undertake a self-reflection to evaluate our thoughts, words, and deeds in the light of God's commandments. Then to help us change in  line with God’s teachings, regularly attending the sacrament of confession provides a divine cleansing of all our sins, like baptism.  We will also receive spiritual guidance from a trusted spiritual father enlightened by the Holy Spirit. By humbly listening to our spiritual father's counsel, we gain valuable insights about the changes we need to make and suggestions how to implement them.

Conclusion: Being a good Christian requires a life of repentance. We must nurture our faith, tame our passions, uncover our weaknesses and develop the opposing virtues. Reading the Gospel daily as a sacred story will help us deepen our faith. A daily routine of prayer seeking God’s help will bring His grace. By fasting we will develop the needed discipline to overcome our passions. By associating with fellow believers we will be encouraged to live a life consistent with God’s commandments. All this together provides a solid foundation for living a good Christian life and fulfilling our purpose to become like Christ. This process we call Theosis.