For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift-not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.    Ephesians 2:8-10 HCSB

We were made to be followers of Christ and to be successful at this endeavor. There are four things we must do in order to be successful in our walk with Christ.

The first thing we must do is seek the Lord. We are told that if we seek the Lord with our whole heart that we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). Salvation is offered to each and every one of us, but God does not force it on us. We must make a choice and a conscious effort to seek the Lord. Half-heartedly seeking the Lord will not cut it. We must seek Him with our whole heart. This means that we let go of the sin that weighs us down and we seek God with all we have. We put Him first. This is not just something we do for a time and then stop. This is an on-going process. It is the first step toward salvation, but we must continually seek Him in our Christian walk.

Once we seek God with our whole heart, we surrender to Him. This includes accepting Him as our Savior, believing in Him and confessing our sin to Him. Once we surrender to Him and do these things, He saves us and cleanses us from our unrighteousness. This is nothing we do, but God does this for us. We could never be “good enough” to earn salvation, but God gives it freely. It’s his gift to us.

After we seek Him and surrender to Him, we must then make up our minds to daily submit to Him. Being a Christian is often difficult. The devil sees to it that it is a challenge. We must submit to God’s will. This means that we trust in Him completely and we don’t rely on what we may think is best (Proverbs 3:5-6). We trust in Him to guide us. Trusting Him goes hand in hand with obeying Him. We must be obedient to His commands. We must submit to His will.

And finally, last but not least, we must stand firm. Words like submitting and surrendering are words that we consider weak, but on the contrary they require great strength. They require the vast strength of God, which He gives us if we surrender to Him. We will never be able to stand firm if we don’t submit to Him and surrender to His will. Once we have submitted and surrendered, He provides the strength and the armor needed (Ephesians 6:10-18) to stand firm against the devil and his schemes.

If you want to be successful in your endeavor to be a Christ follower, you must continually seek Him with your whole heart. You must humble yourself and surrender to Him. You must submit your will to Him. Then you must suit up with the armor He provides and stand firm. We are in a spiritual battle and we must be prepared to stand firm against the devil.

Now maybe you have tried these steps before and you have done one or two and then fallen or backslidden. Well, praise God we serve a God that allows do-overs. Reach out for His strong hands and allow Him to help you stand and to uphold you with His righteous hand (Isaiah 41:10).

Being a “good” Christian is not easy. It’s not for the weak, but with God’s help you can not only be successful at it, but you can have peace and joy throughout, even in hard times.

Have a great day!