Principles for Good Christian Living - Ben Bailey

Principles for Good Christian Living

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thess. 5:16-22).  To encourage Christians in their faith, Paul concludes his letter to the Thessalonians with some final admonitions for Christian Living.  Notice these 4 principles for good Christian living.

Principle #1: Be Joyful (1 Thess. 5:16).  Joy should be a hallmark characteristic of every Christian’s life.  Paul encouraged us to “rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice” (Phil. 4:4).  Everyone wants to find joy and having joy always makes a person’s life better.  Solomon taught us in the Book of Proverbs that a happy spirit is good for the soul.  He said, “A merry heart does good, like medicine” (Prov. 17:22).  If we are going to win the world to Jesus, we need to show people the joyous life of a Christian.

Principle #2: Be Prayerful (1 Thess. 5:17).  Isn’t it great to know you are not in the fight of faith alone (1 Tim. 6:12; Phil. 4:13)?  As a child of God, we have one of the most powerful spiritual tools you could ever imagine—We can communicate with the All-Powerful Creator of the Universe, and we know He hears us and knows our needs.  The Apostle John said, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1 John 5:14).   Remember, “the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man overcomes much” (James 5:16).

Principle #3: Be Thankful (1 Thess. 5:18).  Eli Wiesel once said, “When a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity.”  How true this statement is for a Christian!  God wants us to have a thankful heart.  Do you remember the haunting question Jesus asked the one leper who returned to give thanks?  “Where are the nine?” (Luke 17:17).  A thankful person will always make a greater impact on the world, the lost, and in the kingdom of God than one who simply takes things for granted.  We could all learn a lot from the word of Zig Ziglar on ingratitude, "Be grateful for what you have and stop complaining -- it bores everybody else, does you no good, and doesn't solve any problems." 

Principle #4: Be Careful (1 Thess. 5:19-22).  In this section of Scripture Paul mentions 4 areas in which the Christian must be careful.   Be careful… (1) Not to quench the spirit (vs. 19)—don’t put out the spirit’s fire in our lives (Jer. 20:9) (2) Not to Reject the Word of God (vs. 20)—Don’t stop listening to God’s Word (Heb. 4:12) (3) To test everything (vs. 21)—Be like the Bereans and search the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11) (4) To Abstain from every type of evil—Hate what is evil cling to what is good (Rom. 12:9).  

In a world that is filled with so much hypocrisy and so many things that are for lack of a better word “fake” let’s be the real thing!  Let’s put these 4 principles for good Christian living to use and be the best Christian we can be every day!                    --Ben Bailey