track
What does it mean to live as a Christian? Poll one hundred people, and how many answers would you read in response to that question? All of us, those who have walked with Jesus for decades and those for whom the journey has just begun, will ask ourselves this question time and time again. In seasons of stress, we’ll ask it. In moments of triumph, we’ll ask it. When the impossible lay before us, the question will circle back. Over the dinner table, in the passenger seat of a car, in a business meeting, in a thousand different moments, we’ll ask ourselves the question a thousand different ways. What does it mean to live as a Christian? The world has its answer… do you?
Over the next eight days, we are going to journey together to equip you with a framework by which you can begin to answer that question. We can’t possibly predict every situation or circumstance you will walk through in your lifetime, but through the opening of God’s Word, we can call out eight distinct markers of the Christian life that will serve as lenses through which you can view all of those moments you will inevitably face, and in doing so prayerfully provide guardrails to guide your days.
Current
Day
Days
Remaining
Current
Day
10.13.2023
About this track
What does it mean to live as a Christian? Poll one hundred people, and how many answers would you read in response to that question? All of us, those who have walked with Jesus for decades and those for whom the journey has just begun, will ask ourselves this question time and time again. In seasons of stress, we’ll ask it. In moments of triumph, we’ll ask it. When the impossible lay before us, the question will circle back. Over the dinner table, in the passenger seat of a car, in a business meeting, in a thousand different moments, we’ll ask ourselves the question a thousand different ways. What does it mean to live as a Christian? The world has its answer… do you?
Over the next eight days, we are going to journey together to equip you with a framework by which you can begin to answer that question. We can’t possibly predict every situation or circumstance you will walk through in your lifetime, but through the opening of God’s Word, we can call out eight distinct markers of the Christian life that will serve as lenses through which you can view all of those moments you will inevitably face, and in doing so prayerfully provide guardrails to guide your days.
Save Your Progress
You're not logged in, so if you visit this page again, we won't remember your progress. With an profile, you can track progress, as well as bookmark items to visit later.
What Does It Mean To Live as a Christian?
8-day track with Louie Giglio
Day 02
Locked
Be in Love with God
Day 03
Locked
Extend Grace
Day 04
Locked
Shine Light
Day 05
Locked
Generously Care
“It’s all of me, trying to be like all of Christ… Christ didn’t say, ‘Look at me and pick one thing and be like that,’ he said, ‘No, look at me, and put your arms around me, and try and be like me.’ ”
As we begin this track, we’re going to hear from Louie Giglio as he teaches what it means to live as a Christian, firstly, what it means to “be Christlike,” or what it means to be a “little Christ.” Does this mean that we will one day be Jesus? Of course not. What Christian, or “little Christ,” means is that each day we wake up in the morning with the desire to be like Christ. It’s a process and a lifestyle wherein we place our hope and trust in Jesus and are then transformed to be more and more like Him as we live out our days.
Copy these words from Paul’s letter to the Galatians into your journal or a note on your phone, and then dive into the teaching from Louie Giglio:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20
Video
Summary
Let’s start here. To live as a Christian is to always remember that Jesus Christ died for you. He endured the Cross, in love, for you. If we don’t start with that “why,” then the “what” of how we live won’t be based on the proper foundation. Look again at how the Apostle Paul wrote it in his letter to the Church in Corinth:
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15
Pair that together with the verse from Galatians that we wrote down earlier, and our first lens begins to come into focus. To live as a Christian is to be Christ-like. To turn over our natural inclinations and tendencies in favor of those which align with the character of Christ. To no longer live for ourselves but for Christ to live in us BECAUSE His love led Him to do the same for us. Never forget that quiet moment in the garden just hours before the beatings would begin turned to heaven:
Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.
Luke 22:42
Do you see? If we are to represent that kind of love, compassion, and obedience to a world desperate to see it, we are going to have to be willing to lay down our lives and submit ourselves to the process of becoming more and more like Jesus.
More Patient.
More Kind.
More Gentle.
More Loving.
To sacrifice vindictiveness.
To sacrifice pettiness.
To sacrifice lustfulness.
To sacrifice selfishness.
Always willing to get out of the way so that Christ can be on display.
This is how we live Christlike lives.
What's next?
There are two questions for you to answer today as we wrap up day one. Be graceful with yourself, but be honest. Maybe the Holy Spirit has been reminding you of something recently, and today is a catalytic moment, or maybe today brought something new to the surface. Either way, you can leave today differently than when you arrived, but only through honest examination.
On day two, Louie Giglio explains how being in love with our Father is key to us living as Christians. Being a Christian is so much more than praying a prayer to get into Heaven or signing up to be a member of a Church. It means that we are entrusting our life to God.
Jesus was partners with His Father and spent every moment with Him until the moment he was separated from Him as He died our death on the Cross. But even after He had conquered death, He returned to be with His Father.
Today, let’s take a closer look at what it looks like to be in love with our Father.
Video
Summary
The second way Louie Giglio mentioned for us to live as a Christian is to be in love with God. To live in love with Him and have your world revolve around Him. Christ was absolutely in love with His Father. They are intimate partners in life. They lived, walked, and moved together.
Luke 10:27 says to love God with everything that’s inside of you. Everything we think, everything we feel, everything we believe, everything we do: we share it with our Father.
It would be weird to say that you’re a Christian and not love Him or spend time with Him. We pursue God in a relationship. In an earthly relationship, you would never confess your love to someone and then never talk to them again, or only interact with them when you needed something. It would not be normal to have to force yourself to spend time with them and share your life.
We model our lives after Jesus, and Jesus was in love with His Father, therefore, we cultivate a deep loving relationship with the Father because He is our Father, too.
What's next?
Have you ever been in love or watched a couple that has been married for multiple years. How do they treat each other? How do they prefer each other? What are the things they share together? Jesus is intimately close to His Father. His time, conversation, rest, work, and everything else with Him. Luke 10:27 says "He answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,’" What does that encompass? Your heart, soul, strength, and mind? That means all of you. Are there any areas that you are keeping from God and not sharing with God? Psalm 84:11 assures us that He does not withhold any good thing from those who love Him.
How do we reconcile with grace and truth? Are we really to extend grace? Won’t that make people take advantage of it? In day three, we will look at what it truly means to extend grace.
The two are not pitted against each other, they support each other when used properly and in the right spirit. Jesus defined Himself as the Truth in John 14:6, so He is definitely not against it. But He also is the epitome of grace and introduced us to it through stories and parables.
Today, we are going to take a deeper dive into grace and discover why, if we are to be true Christ followers, we will extend it.
Video
Summary
So far, we have learned that to live like a Christian, we are going to be Christ-like and be in love with God. Today, we will focus on the third point: extend grace.
John 1:14 says that Jesus is both grace and truth. No one is preaching to abuse grace and do whatever you want to do. Jesus is truth, but He also offers grace, and that is something the world has never seen before.
In Luke 15:18-20, we are told the parable of a son who so disrespects his father that he might have well said, I wish you were dead. He asked for his inheritance early and went and blew it on women and wild living. Eventually, the lost son came to his senses and acknowledged that he had sinned and asked his father if he could be a hired servant rather than be accepted again as his son. Why? Because he grew up in the law and had no concept of grace. That’s why when the father ran to him it was so shocking! A mature, Jewish father would never be caught running, especially to a son who had ruined his life. The father was introducing grace and lavished his goodness on the son.
God does not give us what we deserve. He gave that to Jesus and gave us what Jesus deserved: grace. Therefore, a Christian should lead with grace because we remember where we came from and know we have a long way to go until God is finished with us. God gives us grace every day. He cares just as much about truth and consequences, but He met us with grace this morning. He tells you the truth, but He meets you with grace.
What's next?
As a whole, the culture seems to have put truth and grace at odds with each other. If you are heavy truth, than no one can live up to that standard and you are stuck striving in a life that usually leads to legalism. If you are all about the grace, and truth doesn't matter, than you are free to do whatever you want because there's always grace. There's no standards, no expectations, you just do you and use up all the grace you can. No one is actually preaching that from the pulpit, but people want to take sides on the issue. How have you seen grace be exploited or truth be taken to the furthest degree?
On day four, we learn that we are to lives that constantly reflect God’s glory to those around us. Our salvation was never meant for just us, it is meant to be lived out in public so that others may see the love that God has lavished upon us and is available to them.
Until Jesus returns, there will always be darkness in the world, but we will learn that we can shine like stars.
Video
Summary
To live as a Christian means to shine light. Light only matters if there is darkness. John 3:19 assures us that people love the darkness, and sometimes we do too. We feed our flesh. However, you can walk with God in such a way that the light of God shines through you. You reflect Christ.
Our salvation is not a private thing.
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16
See Philippians 2:12-16 as well. Verse 15 says that we will shine like stars in the heavens. Stars are seen. Stars are bright and memorizing. By grace, God put salvation in us, and He will work in us to will and to do the things that fulfill His will. By doing this, we shine like stars. God wants us to be in a relationship with Him so that we are constantly reflecting the face of God.
The world doesn’t want light until they are stumbling in the darkness, and then they become desperate for it. That’s when they’ll remember seeing light in you.
What's next?
Do you have areas in your life where you are walking in darkness? Areas where you allow your flesh to be fed and you return to consistently? There is good news! Light drives out the dark! "For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ." 2 Corinthians 4:6. Through Jesus, we have the power of the Holy Spirit to wrestle with our flesh and come out victorious. We can live our lives in such a way that we shine as bright as the stars in the heavens.
As people who are living a Christian life, we are called to compassion. Compassion always has action attached to it. Constantly throughout the Gospels, Jesus would have compassion and then do something about it. In day five, we will see what it looks like to be generous and how we can live that out in the day-to-day.
Video
Summary
In day five, we learn that as true Christians living a Christian life, we are to care generously.
To champion those in need.
To be the good Samaritan.
A Christian stops, cares, sees, bends down, carries, pays, and checks in. A Christian doesn’t have to be told to tithe because they aren’t just doing it out of obedience. They know that everything they have belongs to their Father anyway, but they are also finding ways to love and care for people. To meet tangible needs. God has met and will meet every need of His children, and His children help take care of others.
A Christian just wants people to know that God sees them, cares for them, and has a purpose and plan for them. God has what you need.
What's next?
Louie asked a pointed question. Are you doing anything personally? Are you investing? Are you helping to meet the needs of others? Generosity is an easy way to have an open door to show the love of God and let people know that they are never off of God's radar.
We continue our learning on how we live as Christians. Today, in day six, Louie Giglio takes us on a deep dive into what the Gospel even is, starting with the Greek and Latin. We will see that in those words, we have the definitions of exactly what the good news is and how we can share it.
You will be encouraged to learn about very specific and practical ways you can partner with Jesus to share the Gospel with anyone around you.
Video
Summary
As redeemed people living Christian lives, we have been tasked with the greatest opportunity of all time: Proclaim the Good News. We don’t go around telling people bad news, we’re to speak the words of the Gospel. Romans 1:16 says that we are not ashamed of the Gospel. The word “Gospel” in Greek is “euangelion” which means “good news”. This is also where we get the word “evangel” in Latin, leading to our word evangelical. Mark 16:15 and Matthew 24:14 tell us to preach the good news.
Preaching isn’t a profession, it’s simply to tell, proclaim, share, and spread. Everyone can do it. We are the good news bearers. We have to get back to the heart of God’s Word, where we can put the gospel into our hearts. He wants us to live as Christians and proclaim to Gospel, the good news.
Our culture wants to get rid of all the bad news, so they want us to think God loves us because we’re so amazing. The truth, we are amazing because we are made in the image of God, but humanity has a problem, so we all have a problem. We do terrible things to ourselves and others. The problem with humanity causes humans to fight Yahweh- but God loves humans because they are made in His image. So, He solves humanity’s problem by making our problem His Son’s problem so that our problem was solved through His Son so that we could be called sons and daughters of God. This is good news!
What's next?
We, all who have entrusted our lives to Jesus, have been given the Great Commission. We are to preach the Gospel, the good news, to everyone so that all may hear it. Louie put together a series of events that are typical of how we can interact with those we want to share the good news with. We have already learned what a game-changer generosity is in showing the love of God and allowing us to shine for His glory. Reflect on the next few questions and decide where you can step into the story in a greater way.
Day seven has the ability to be one of the most intimidating days so far, but don’t let the idea of making disciples put you back on your heels. You are capable of making disciples! Yes, you! There is no requirement for Seminary or Bible College, although those can be immensely helpful…all you need to do is to be willing to be taught and to teach what you’ve learned.
His Word is powerful and able to do more than we can even think possible. So, we don’t have to worry about not having all the answers or stumbling over our words. God is greater and delights in watching all of His children grow. Let’s take a closer look.
Video
Summary
If we are walking with Jesus, then we are called to make disciples. Someone who has a disciple is helping someone to progressively learn the Word of God, to become a mature growing disciple, a learner, a true Christ follower, to train and develop in the truth of scripture and the lifestyle required. It’s helping a believer learn to be a disciple of Christ in belief and practice. Who has helped you to learn to pray and study the Word of God? God has left us on earth to do this.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
See Matthew 28:18-20.
“Therefore, go and make disciples” is most literally translated as “As you are on your way, make disciples.” It is intentional, but it’s also your normal everyday way of life. The way you become a mature disciple was because someone invested in you, so go invest in someone else and help them to grow. Who are you doing this for? All you need to be a disciple maker is to be a step or two ahead of someone else in their faith journey so that you can teach them what you’ve learned in your two steps ahead.
What's next?
When you think about your own faith journey and relationship with God, who was it that poured into you wisdom, guidance, and truth that helped you walk in the way of righteousness? If we take the time to truly consider all the people who were part of our growing relationship, we would be overwhelmed. It started generations before you. Since the beginning of time, people have passed down traditions, stories, and history, but Jesus is the one who truly exemplified how we are to live, what we are to pass down and teach, and how to do all of it with grace.
You have made it to the final day in this track, and we are so excited to jump into the last point that Louie Giglio passionately teaches. The Church will be known by her love, so we have the honor of loving each other.
Pray as you move forward on this last day and ask God to show you where you can expand and see others as Christ sees you.
Video
Summary
On our final day together, we are going to explore one of the most important things we do is to love one another. Jesus gives this command in John 13:34.
Do you know how God has loved you? He has always loved you more. He loved you before you loved Him. He showed His love by dying for us while we were still sinners. See Romans 5:8. You matter more than the lilies and the sparrows. He sees everything. See Matthew 6:25-34. This is just the tip of the iceberg of how much He loves us.
Jesus takes it even further in the next verse and says that the Church will be known by our love. The word for love that is used there is “agape”, which is a special kind of love.
The idea behind it is to prefer the other. This is incredibly counter cultural-to prefer others as better than yourself. See Philippians 2:3. But while you are preferring others they are preferring you. If you are united on the Gospel, then the other disagreements you have can be handled with grace. You talk to someone, not about someone. You talk with someone, not post about them. It’s maintaining you’re lane and living like a Christian. Go to them in private and pray for them a long time before you criticize them because you don’t want us to look like a mess to the world.
Do everything in your power to solve the disagreement in peace and privacy. When it comes to public discourse, Christians need to stay out of the comment section. It doesn’t change anyone’s mind to throw bombs back and forth. That brings no one to reconciliation so why get in it? Focus on loving each other, not the world, and this is how the world will know of the Agape House, the Church. A place where every need is met and no one has a lack. When you are part of that community, you are part of paying mortgages, medical bills, car issues, and other bills. It’s the house of love. And those are just the material needs, there’s even more community, relationship, and spiritual needs that we get to grow in.
What's next?
What comes to your mind first when you think about love? Louie broke down the Greek word "agape" for us. How is the definition of that word different from what the world thinks true love is? One of the things that the world uses against the Church is that there is infighting between Christians, so if we can't get along with each other, how is that remotely attractive to the world? We will always stand firmly on the Word of God and make our stands and conversations based on grace and truth, but we do it in that exact way...grace and truth. Treating people within the Church like that will speak volumes to the world. Is there anyone you need to go to and ask for forgiveness for speaking about them behind their back or disparaging them publicly?
Next Day
Track Topics
Scripture References
- Galatians 2:20
- 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
- Luke 22:42
- Luke 10:27
- Psalms 84:11
- John 1:14
- Matthew 5:14-16
- Philippians 2:12-16
- 2 Corinthians 4:6
- John 3:9
- Romans 1:16
- Mark 16:15
- Matthew 24:14
- Matthew 28:18-20
- John 13:34-35
- Romans 5:8
- Matthew 6:25-34
- Philippians 2:3.
Global Pastor
Louie Giglio Louie Giglio is the Visionary Architect and Director of the Passion Movement, comprised of Passion Conferences, Passion City Church, Passion Publishing and sixstepsrecords, and the founder of Passion Institute.
Day 02
Locked
Back to Him
Day 03
Locked
A Gift on the Table
Day 04
Locked
Eternal Implications
Day 05
Locked
What's In Store for a Believer in Heaven?
Day 02
Locked
Gospel Aimed Surrender
Day 03
Locked
You Are The Instrument
Day 02
Locked
Back to Him
Day 03
Locked
A Gift on the Table
Day 04
Locked
Eternal Implications
Day 05
Locked
What's In Store for a Believer in Heaven?
Day 02
Locked
Gospel Aimed Surrender
Day 03
Locked
You Are The Instrument