Essential Christian Qualities

Essential Christian Qualities             Kelly Durant  10-13-02

1 Pet 1:1-16

1          Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2          Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.3          Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,4          To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,5          Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.6          Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:7          That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:8          Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:9          Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.10        Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:11        Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.12        Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.13        Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;14        As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:15        But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;16        Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

How many of you have ever forgotten something in a restaurant and gone back to find that the owner had kept it for you? I forgot my cell phone in a Colombian restaurant the other day and they had it for me when I went back. Before, when I told friends we were moving to Colombia they would say, watch out, they will rob you there and they did rob us there!

But here and everywhere there is evil and that is why we are in God’s Army, to live a higher standard as children of the light, right? How good that makes you feel when someone watches for your things and returns them!

There are many qualities we will discuss that God expects us to have and Honesty is at the top of the list. In reality, honesty is not found in those who are not Christian, and if we as Christians are not better and different fro the world and honest, then we are salt without saltiness and worthless to God!

Now lets look at Integrity. Integrity means that we are whole, or that we are the same way in our homes, behind closed doors, as we are here in front of others. One of the biggest complaints we have all had about church people is that they are often hypocrites. They look so holy, and jump up and down crying out loud praising God on Sunday, but when they get home they return to their normal old bad selves, yelling at their mates or kids. We must learn to pray always before we do anything and we let any words out of our mouths, and be aware that we may be stumbling those of our own families if we do not have integrity. A Christian is a Christian all the time, not just here in the church but at work, and at home, and everywhere!

The next point is Faithfulness! You will recall what Jesus said to the servant who went into the glory of heaven, He said, well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into the glory of your Lord!

First of all Jesus wants us to be faithful to God, to serve and love Him alone above all things! Faithfulness is also put to the test when it comes to one man having only one mate and never betraying that person. Faithfulness means being committed to the cause of Christ and Christ works through people and being faithful to your church is very important thing since it is the work of the Kingdom of God on the earth in your community!

Let’s look at trustworthiness or dependability. How many of you have every tried to meet someone who told you a certain time and they were not there? It makes you mad right? A Christian is a person of their word; they say what the mean and mean what they say. When we are committed to doing something, we are dependable and they do not let you down. In the world out there, if you are not dependable to show up for work for two or three times, they fire you! Why is it some people think it is okay not to show up for church sometimes or for meetings? I think sometimes we forget how much God is watching to see how dependable we are, because if we want to be used by Him, then we must be present for Him to use!

Another thing is that Christians are to be Humble. Being humble does not mean you are a poor ignorant person that everyone walks over and takes advantage of, it means we do not carry our selves in a manner that is proud, acting as if we are more spiritual, knowledgeable, or better than our brothers. The Word says to esteem each person better than our selves. I remember there is a story about a Sergeant in the U.S. Army that no one could tell any thing to. One day he saw a soldier carry a pot and he stopped him and said, stop soldier! He started to put the ladle to his lips and the soldier said, Sir, wait sir, and he replied soldier don’t you know you are not to speak unless I ask you to speak. He said, Sir, yes, sir. When the Sergeant tasted the soup he spewed it out of his mouth and said, that soup is the worst thing I have every tasted! The soldier replied, if I could have explained sir, that was the dirty wash water, not a soup! It is true though that there are some people who are not willing to listen to anyone. Humility is asking advise from your pastor and brothers.

The next quality is Self-discipline! I like the idea we are called Soldiers instead of members in this church because that term soldier implies that we are disciplined. We all have the commission to obey Jesus and to resist temptation and be strong in our fight for the right. No one will ever prosper without discipline. Many wealthy people are very disciplines, they know that it takes hard work and saying not to many things in order to achieve a goal and be successful.

 And finally, be Industrious! We must work for the Lord while it is day and bring all the fruit for Him we can for Him. In Bolivia the Indians in Quechua say that as a morning greeting, something like this, ‘Mana canchu’, which means work hard, don’t be lazy! Review these points and live them for a blessed life!