Being a follower of Christ isn’t easy in a non-Christian world. On the other hand, the committed Christian life is filled with love, grace, and mercy, which God provides through his awesome and cosmic power. I don’t remember where I read these, but when we peruse the ten characteristics of a committed Christian below, and come to number ten … well, then we might decide to live for Christ.
Ten Characteristics of the Crucified Life
- Few will understand.
- You must abandon your own will and your own agenda.
- Your intimate spiritual companions will be few.
- Intense times of aloneness with God are required.
- You will be constantly on the witness stand.
- You must go “outside the camp.”
- There will be times when your dignity is forfeited.
- You must forego your rights.
- You must accept that death is painful.
- Because He was forsaken, you never will be.
I have been a committed follower of Christ since 1997, and I have never regretted it, I don’t feel silly about it, and I will never be the same. And because Christ went to the cross, took my past, present, and future sins upon his shoulders, and was crucified for them, my crucified life is diminished and well worth it.