What should a Christ-centered life look like?

Answer

A Christ-centered (or Christocentric) life is one that is focused on a commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord. At the core of every human decision is a motivation. Some people are motivated by the pursuit of pleasure or wealth. Some center their entire lives on a goal, a job, or even their families. These things are not inherently wrong; however, what we center our lives on can become our deity.

The human heart was created for worship, and if it does not worship God, it will worship something else. If we are not Christ-centered, we will be centered on something else. Worship is gauged by the amount of time, money, and emotional energy invested. Our deities can be recognized by the level of intense commitment they elicit from us, and, over time, we start to resemble them. We speak about them, think about them, dream about them, and plan to allocate more time with them. Those who know us well typically understand where our deepest passions lie because worship is challenging to conceal.

Christ followers who center their lives on Him begin to mirror Him more. They speak of Him, think of Him, dream of Him, and plan to spend more time with Him. They opt to follow His directives out of love and respect for their Lord, not out of fear of being caught in wrongdoing. The primary aspiration of Christ-centered believers is to honor Him and develop to be more like Him. Their lives resonate with Paul’s words in Philippians 3:10: “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” The primary goal of a Christ-centered life is to glorify God.

However, a Christ-centered life should not be mistaken for a religion-centered life. The Pharisees in Jesus’ time were centered on religion. They lived, breathed, and slept the Law. They could recite rules, codes, and judgments as quickly as a child can recite the ABCs, but Jesus strongly criticized them. They wereLaw-centered but not love-centered, and it made all the difference (Matthew 23:25; Luke 11:42). A religion-centered life strives for supremacy, attention, and glory based on performance. It keeps score and judges itself and others by self-made standards. Christ-centered lives rest in the finished work of Jesus on their behalf and yearn for holiness as a means of staying close to Him: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

The secret to living a Christ-centered life is understanding the “fear of the Lord” (Psalm 19:9; Proverbs 16:6). The fear of the Lord is the continual awareness that our loving heavenly Father is watching and evaluating everything we think, say, or do. Those who live Christ-centered lives have developed a tangible awareness of the presence of Jesus: “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:20). They make decisions based on the question “Would this please the Lord?” They avoid Satan’s traps and worldly entanglements because they evaluate their choices: “If Jesus was spending the day with me, would I do that? Watch that? Say that?” (1 Timothy 3:7; Ephesians 6:11). Every lifestyle decision is weighed on heaven’s scales and evaluated for its eternal significance. Lesser loves fall by the wayside because they steal time, resources, and energy away from the real passion of life—pleasing Jesus. However, living with the fear of the Lord requires a conscious, ongoing commitment.Commitment to it, and even the most devoted will fail at times.

No person has ever lived a perfect life except Jesus «For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. », (Hebrews 4:15). Even those who deeply desire a Christ-centered life will stumble, fall, sin, and make fleshly decisions in moments of weakness (1 John 1:8-10). But a Christ-centered person cannot endure living in disharmony with God and will quickly confess sin and be restored to fellowship with Him. This process of living in continual harmony with God is called sanctification. It is a lifelong process by which God makes us more like Jesus (Romans 8:29; Hebrews 12:14). When we first center our hearts on Him, our lives quickly follow.