10 Principles to Live By

Metropolitan

September 10, 2019

Here are ten specific principles that I have made a priority in my life and service to God that will be helpful to you as you seek to follow the Lord:

1. Submission

All of us are placed under some type of authority. Jesus demonstrated this principle in the way that He submitted His own life to the authority of His Father. In the same way, we must be people of submission, willing to yield our rights and honor our Master in heaven by obeying the authorities He has set over us.

2. Contentment

Whether it be a love for money and material things, the seeking of praise and position or something else that pulls at us, we must be a people who are content with the life the Lord has appointed for us.

3. Forgiveness

People will wrong us—even people who work with us in service to God—and when they do, we must be quick to demonstrate Christ’s love toward them through offering forgiveness. Oftentimes, God actually uses offenses to make us more like Christ. Refusing to forgive leads to bitterness, which will hurt us and, in the end, actually destroy our service to Him.

4. Faith

Throughout our lives and ministries, we will face impossible situations. Putting unshakable confidence in the written Word of God and remaining steadfast in the faith developed through it anchors and enables us to see the impossible become possible.

5. Truthfulness

People often misrepresent facts for the sake of gaining approval. But to serve God in the way that pleases Him and brings Him honor, we must maintain honesty and truthfulness in our communication and dealings with people, no matter who they are.

6. Faithfulness

No matter how educated, able or experienced a person is, he will never succeed without the virtue of loyalty in his heart and life. Faithfulness means that through thick or thin, good times or bad, we remain true to God and true to one another at all costs.

7. Humility

This must be our foundation in life and ministry. Pride will destroy our lives and ministries faster than anything else. Therefore, we must be careful how we live, making sure that it is in brokenness and humility.

8. Love

We must regard the principle of love as supreme in our lives and service, understanding the meaning of love and living it out in our words, attitudes, responses and actions.

9. Courage and Boldness

It takes courage and boldness on our part to stand up and live in the truth of His Word and follow Him. Sometimes we may have to stand alone and sometimes it may cost us in significant ways, but it is worth it and pleases God.

10. Unselfishness

Our worst enemy in following and serving Christ is often our own self-centeredness. How often we are tempted to grab for our own lives and look out for only ourselves! But as followers of Christ, we are called to lay down our lives for Him and for one another.

Today, examine your life to see if you are abiding by these principles. Ask the Lord for His help to grow in these areas.