These past few years I have been thinking a great deal about what it really means to be a follower of Jesus. Not about how to become a Christian, but how to live the life that is promised- the abundant life that Jesus speaks of in the gospels. And finding the joy that being a follower of Christ should be.

Let me start at the beginning. I was raised as a Catholic- we attending church from the time I was about 9 or 10 until I left for college at age 17. During the last few years of High School I had many questions about God, faith and how we did church. I was not very happy about the discussions of church hierarchy and conclave decisions that were given as the basis of what we believed. I started on a journey to find something concrete. Those journeys lead me to exposure to charismatic gifts, groups that talked only about the love of God and many other things. None of these satisfied my need for something concrete. In the beginning of my freshman year in college, I met and studied with a group of men that believed in the Bible. The Bible was the basis for their faith, salvation and a guide to how they did church. At last I found the concrete answers I was looking for! Everything can be traced back to Jesus and the early church leaders through the New Testament.

Over the years, I have grown in my faith and in knowledge of what is in the Bible. I knew exactly what to do to live the Christian life. I had my list of do and don’ts that made up the Christian Life. For many years that was enough, but I found that I had become like the Pharisees- having a form of godliness, but denying its power. I was not a happy Christian. I was doing all of the right things- church 3 times a week, leading small groups, giving, teaching- but I was not fulfilled. There was no joy. Was there something more?

Then God began to speak to me and I was ready to listen. The Christian Life is not about rules and lists, but about CHARACTER. The rules show us the direction and are a useful guide, but it is our character that needs to change. Jesus teaches us how to treat each other and if we allow it gives us to power (through the Spirit) to show the character of God to the world around us.

In my work we have a saying, live by the spirit of the law, not necessarily by the letter of the law. What does this mean? It means find out the reason for the rule and try to use that reasoning for making decisions. Something may be perfectly acceptable to do by the letter of the law, but not be the right thing to do for the business or our employees.

I think we need to do this is our Christian life- to have the abundant life- the joy that is promised, we need to tune our character to God’s character. That is why in the Sermon on the Mount, I think Jesus said “You have heard it said” about some point of the law, “but I tell you to”. These explanations and examples are there to show us about the character trait God wants, not more laws themselves. Read through the Sermon on the Mount this week and see what kind of things Jesus is telling his followers to do. I think you will find it is more about character than letter. I have found that this releases me as I live my life. No longer worried about the rules and if I break one, but loving my fellow man and treating them as Jesus did. I still struggle to do this daily, but now it is my goal and prayer every day is to be more like Jesus and bring Glory to the Father. It brings me a joy and peace that I cannot adequately explain in words, but that I wish for each of you.

Kevin