Normal Christianity can only be defined by the life that Jesus lives, not by a life that tries to live for Jesus. He is normal Christianity, and the normal Christian life is Him living through us. What I just wrote doesn’t just give us hope for the kind of Christian life we can experience, but it also holds us accountable to what is truly righteous and unrighteous. Psalm 35:24 says, “Judge me, O Lord my God, according to your righteousness.” We are accountable to His righteousness, not our own self-described righteous. Jesus can’t just be the object of our activity; He has to be the origin of our activity, and we can’t excuse un-Christlike behavior because of personality types or what kind of culture we come from. The righteous life of Jesus lived out through us should look like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It is imperative that we don’t dummy down the truth and settle for anything less than what the fruit of the Spirit looks like. If we do, then we’ve dummied down the very life of Jesus. As an example, if a Christian acts towards others without patience, kindness, and gentleness, then they are walking in unrighteousness. It is got nothing to do with a person’s personality. It’s just plain and simple sin. When we act rudely, or frustrated towards others, or belittle them in any way, then we are acting out of a false identity because that is not who we are in Christ. It is not who Christ is in us. As a Christian, the most important thing in the world to us is others, and if we get that part wrong in terms of how we act, speak to, and treat others, then we are still not surrendered to the abundant life that Jesus lives. Living from Christ; not for Christ. Love happens from the inside out.
