How do you wear His name?

To become a Christian is unbelievably simple.  All you need is a willing heart and humbly accept God’s gift of grace and salvation.  It really is as simple as ABC:  admit that you are a sinner, believe that Jesus died for you, and commit everything about you to Him and His plan.  All the good deeds in the world will not get you into Heaven, but your faith and trust in God’s plan for your life will.  Jesus wore your name on the cross when He died for your sins.  His great gift of salvation should be your incentive to wear His name every day in your life.

The Greek word, Christianos, means follower of Christ.  When you accept Jesus as your Savior, you become a Christian, a follower of Christ.  But being a Christian is so much more than just saying that you follow Christ.  You must be devoted to God’s call on your life and trust in His ways.  It is all about God, and not about you.  To be a Christian, you must separate yourself from this world.  You are merely passing through this world as you strive for Heaven.  In Colossians 3:2, it says to put on a new self and set your mind on things above, not on things below on this Earth. 

When you are called to be a disciple of Christ, you must be Christ-like, imitating Christ, thereby mirroring Jesus’s characteristics of love and forgiveness.  In other words, you should dress yourself with His name and represent His values.  Others should easily recognize that you are a Christian. In I Corinthians 11:1, Paul reminds the church that they should imitate Christ. Let all things that you say or do reflect His love.  In Colossians 3:12-15, Paul tells us that as the elect of God, you must put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing one another’s burdens and forgiving those who wrong you.  But above all these things, you should put on love, be thankful, and let the peace of God rule in your heart.  Ephesians 5 tells you to be imitators of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ loves you.  

Being a Christian is not a religion.  It is an intimate relationship with God.  Flesh and spirit are in constant conflict in this world, but trusting God will always bring peace, wisdom, and joy.  In Galatians 5:16, Paul tells us to walk in the Spirit and not in our flesh.  Walking in step with Christ prepares your heart and mind to be aware of what Jesus would do in everyday situations.  Your intimate relationship with Him also prompts your heart to see kingdom work that He may need you to do for Him.  You must look with your spiritual eyes and listen with spiritual ears so God can prompt you when He has something that He needs you to do.

Colossians 3 identifies the bad things on Earth that should be put to death when you become a Christian.  Things like uncleanness, passion, evil desire, covetousness, fornication, and idolatry.  Avoid the wrath of God for any disobedience, anger, malice, blasphemy, lies, or filthy language spoken from your own mouth.  As a Christian, you should have no desire to act against God’s will or negatively reflect on Him.

For you were once in darkness but are now walking in the light.  Light will always uncover darkness.  Walking as a child of the Light shows others how to walk like Jesus did.  When you reflect His love toward others, you wear His name with honor.  Galatians 5 also tells you that the fruit of the Spirit includes love, joy, peace, goodness, faithfulness, long suffering, gentleness, and self-control.  You know immediately that someone is a Christian when you see them naturally reflect love, joy, and peace, kindness, and faithfulness.  Their spirit is genuine, and you love seeing them come rather than being happy when they leave.

People who live by God’s word and walk in love are easy to spot.  Children especially gravitate toward those with a free spirit.  In John 13:35, Jesus told his disciples that everyone will know you by your love for one another.  He who abides in Him ought to walk like He walked.  I Corinthians 13 reminds us that if you speak without love, you are like a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.  You may have the gift of prophecy, knowledge, and faith to move mountains, but if you do not love, you are nothing. 

How do we walk in love?  Galatians 13 says that love suffers long, and love is kind, not hasty or puffed up.  Love does not behave rudely, is not prideful, and thinks no evil.  Love does not rejoice when others suffer or fail.  Love bears all things, believes all things, endures all things, and produces hope in all things.  Love never fails.  Faith, hope, and love abide, but the greatest of these is love.  In Matthew 22, Jesus tells the disciples that the greatest commandment of all is to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind.  The second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.  Showing love to others is how you wear His name!

When you have an intimate relationship with Christ and walk with Him, His Spirit alerts you to His need for you to reflect and share His love with others.  First Timothy 4:12 instructs you to be an example to the believers in words, in conduct, and in spirit.  In I John 4:16, it confirms that if you know and believe that God is love, then you abide in God through love, and God abides in you . Therefore, dwell in love.

To identify if you are walking Christ-like, look in a mirror and take inventory of yourself by asking yourself the following questions.

• Do you easily see people who are in physically in need?  

• Do you hear the heartfelt sound of someone’s voice as they talk to you about something laying heavily on their heart? 

• Do you see the child who is begging for attention, but no one has the time to play with them? 

• Do you see an elderly person who is looking for someone to just talk to them?

• Do the words you speak bring healing or hurtfulness? 

• Do you behave like Christ when you are in a tense or difficult situation? 

• Is your love long suffering? 

• Are you rude or prideful? 

• Do you live with contentment or are you always desiring the next cool thing? 

• Do you share hope with the hopeless?

  
  

And finally, do others have to ask you if you are a Christian?  You should be the light of the world, a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14).  His Spirit bears witness with your spirit showing that you are children of God.  If someone asks you if you are a Christian, step back and really look at the fruit of your spirit. Figure out why your light is not shining like it should.  Get in God’s face and ask Him to renew your spirit and mind.  And fix it through Him.

Look at these words from Phil Wickham’s song, The Jesus Way. 

“I follow Jesus, I follow Jesus, He wore my sin, I’ll gladly wear His name.  He is the treasure. 

He is the answer…. I choose to love.  Oh God my Savior, You’ll always be enough. 

I choose forgiveness, I choose grace.  I choose to worship, no matter what I face.”

Jesus chose to wear your name on the cross when He died for your sins.  Now you can choose the Jesus way and wear His name with honor!