A Christ follower lives a Christ-shaped life. As they mature in their faith, they begin to look more and more like what God wishes them to look like. My goal with identifying these marks is to show you some of the things you should expect to begin seeing in and through your life as you surrender to and follow Jesus.
Teachings like this can easily become misunderstood, so allow me to say at the outset that these are marks of someone who has been saved by God through Christ. These are not prerequisites for being saved. Please, don’t read this as, “this is what I must be before I can surrender my life to God.” That is not at all what I am laying out here. These are things that those who have been saved should begin to see in their lives as they follow Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in and through them.
[callout]Depending on what tradition you come from and what they teach about what we do to be saved, you may have heard some variation of faith, repentance, confession, baptism, and continued faith. Some people put baptism as a different response to God rather than the initial response to His grace and part of the plan of salvation. In case you’d like to read more about baptism, read 4 Things You Should Know About Baptism[/callout]
30 Marks of a Christ-Shaped Life
- You live in light of your salvation, knowing that it is because of what Christ has done, not what you can do. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
- You live by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, knowing that He is the one who enables you to live a Christ-shaped life. (Romans 8)
- You love God with everything you are. (Mark 12:30)
- You love other people as yourself. (Mark 12:31)
- You count others as more significant than yourself (Philippians 2:3)
- You deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow the way of Jesus daily (Luke 9:23)
- You take an attitude of meekness. (Matthew 5:5)
- Your life points people to the glory of God. (Matthew 5:16)
- You reconcile relational discord with others. (Matthew 5:21-26)
- You have a greater desire to honor God than to satisfy your sinful desires. (Matthew 5:27-30)
- You honor marriage. (Matthew 5:31-32)
- You let hurt people hurt you, and don’t hurt them back, instead you help them. (Matthew 5:38-42)
- You love and pray for those who are against you. (Matthew 5:43-48)
- You give to the needy with nothing expected in return. (Matthew 6:2-4)
- You spend alone time in prayer with your Heavenly Father. (Matthew 6:5-15)
- You invest your money in the kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 6:19-21)
- You serve God with your money, it’s not the other way around. (Matthew 6:24)
- You don’t worry about tomorrow, for God is already there. (Matthew 6:25-34)
- You hold people to the same standard you hold yourself to. (Matthew 7:1-6)
- You take the harder path, the path that leads to life. (Matthew 7:13-14)
- You build the foundation of your life with the words of Christ. (Matthew 7:24-27)
- You make disciples as you are going. (Matthew 28:18-20)
- You display joy in your life. (Galatians 5:22)
- You have peace in your life. (Galatians 5:22)
- You practice patience in your life. (Galatians 5:22)
- You let kindness reign in your relationships. (Galatians 5:22)
- You are characterized by goodness. (Galatians 5:22)
- You are focused on faithfulness. (Galatians 5:22)
- You have gentleness characterize your demeanor. (Galatians 5:23)
- You practice self-control for the glory of God. (Galatians 5:23)
Want More?
If this article resonated with you, subscribe to the blog. As a way of saying thank you, I have a gift to send you. It’s called Journey to Knowing God. It’s a 28-day daily devotional that features 4 audio sessions and 24 daily prompts. It will help you experience God in a real way every single day. Let’s connect!
