Athletes are always looking to take their game to the next level. Businesspeople always want to grow revenue and market share. Scientists continually try to expand their knowledge.
With so many people always working to take it the next level, should Christians be any different?
1 Corinthians 9:24
Don’t you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run like that, so that you may win.
Many signs point to the imminent return of Christ. Is now the time to be complacent? If anything, we should be working harder than ever to grow closer to God and to do His will.
The best news is that if we try to do that, we are guaranteed success.
Proverbs 3:6
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
When our focus is on God and on His will, God will make our paths straight … or, in other words, make our paths free of obstacles and successful.
What Can We Do To Take Our Love Of Christ To The Next Level?
DISCIPLESHIP = DISCIPLINE
To mature in our discipleship with Christ we must grow in discipline. Here are a few areas where we can focus our efforts …
+
Put our neighbor first. Jesus tells us in
Matthew 25:40 that what we
do for our neighbor, we actually
do for Christ.
+ Align yourself with God through prayer. We should not pray so that God will give us our desires. We should pray to know God’s desires – His will – so that we can play our role (Romans 12:2) in achieving God’s plans.
+
Study the Word daily. Getting in the habit of daily study of scripture will help us turn our
path of walking with Christ into a
superhighway.
Psalms 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.
+Realize that not only does Jesus need us to take it to the next level, but He also commands us to be perfect.
Matthew 5:48
“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
+ Understand that God is working on us. In fact, we simply can’t do it ourselves. But God has promised us that He will change our hearts so that we can grow and mature in our walk with Christ.
Philippians 2:13
For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Why be satisfied with our level of Christian maturity when scripture guarantees us more? Jesus told us that the kingdom of heaven is with us
(Luke 17:20-21). As true disciples of Christ, don’t we owe it to God – and ourselves – to take our faith to the next level?