Good Qualities for Christians

The Makings of a Faithful Follower

Bible Passage: Galatians 5:22-23, Matthew 5:14-16, Philippians 2:14-16

Summary: Through this lesson I want us to see the essential qualities that define a good Christian, emphasizing the fruit of the Spirit, the call to be a light in the world, and the call to shine brightly through good deeds. It delves into how these qualities manifest in the life of believers and their impact on those around them. See what you need to understand is that what you do to others and how you act and respond leaves a impact to those people. And for Christians we should be striving to leave a positive impact.

Application: By understanding and embodying these qualities, we can navigate life’s challenges with grace, offer hope to others in need, and effectively represent Christ in a world that often feels dark and lost. we as believers need to reflect on our actions and attitudes in our daily lives.

Teaching: Ultimately the qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are vital for a genuine Christian witness. Additionally, we need to see the importance of good works as a reflection of one’s faith to glorify God before others.

How this passage could point to Christ: In the context of the whole Bible, Christ fulfills the qualities of a good Christian, as He embodies love, kindness, and self-control perfectly. He calls believers to reflect His character and teaches them to shine His light in a world that desperately needs it.

Big Idea: The authentic Christian life is marked by the qualities defined in Scripture that not only transform individual believers but also shine brightly in the world, leading others to God.

1. Cultivating Christ's Character

Galatians 5:22-23

First and foremost here we are introduced to the fruit of the Spirit

And truthfully to be a good Christian today an even better one in this new year we should be striving to show these characteristics

love - Do we show Christ like love to other people?

joy -Christians ultimately should be a joyful people

peace -We should strive to live peaceably with all men

patience - We should be patient with others it can be easy to lose our patience but we need to work on it

kindness- We should be kind to everyone even if they dont believe the same way we do

goodness - This word in the greek can translate into meaning goodness as being benevolent or being well or kind to others this is what we need to strive to do

faithfulness - We should be faithful or having faith at all times trusting and relying upon God and we should be faithful to those things we do in our lives such as going to church or our jobs

gentleness - A writer once wrote this about this word

“The Greek word found in Galatians 5:22 is prautēs. it means, “Mildness, gentleness” or “gentle strength which expresses power with reserve.”

I love how gentleness is shared as gentle strength. When we ponder the strongest people we know, many times it is not the most physically tough who come to our minds. It is people who have endured hardship, remained faithful, or endured in character when everyone around them failed. Strength is more than meets the eye.”

self-control - or keeping our desires under control

these are essential qualities for Christians.

These reflect Christ’s character and are vital for living a faithful and transformative life.

we as believers need to seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance as we seek to become more like christ

2. Shining Through Service

Matthew 5:14-16

we have just recently seen this portion of scripture and studied through it but Perhaps we need to be the light of the world, a reflection of Jesus’ own teachings.

Encourage them to let their good deeds be seen so others might glorify God.

This is not say go out there and do all these things just to get the praise of man but to willingly serve the Lord so that he might get the glory

truly as followers of Christ, living out these qualities visibly is essential in representing Christ and leading others toward Him in everyday situations.

I heard a great point this week and its truly important to be reminded of

Religion tells us that we need to obey and serve God so that he will love and accept us

But the Bible tells us that God loves us for exactly who we are and we get to serve and obey him our of love and gratitude towards almighty God.

3. Shining with Resilience

Philippians 2:14-16

Truly we need to actively live out our faith without grumbling, shining as lights in a dark world.

nobody like a grumbler and nobody wants to listen to one either

So how do we expect people around us to want to talk about God and open that door way if we act as if it is a chore or a bother to us

We should be the happiest people in this entire world

I want to encourage you this morning to hold fast to the word of life, living blamelessly despite challenges.

Truly we need to be showing others that no matter what life may throw at us we will trust and rely upon God and his word

and opening the door for others to wonder why we can be so happy

Today let us be this type of Christian that we demonstrate the fruit of the spirit that we be humble servants and that we are a shining light to our community.