If we take the time to genuinely ask ourselves: “Am I truly abiding in Christ?”… which is a far more important question to ask than ‘am I saved or not’…then how do we even know where to start, when it comes to assessing the answer to that question?

The same could be said when it comes to taking Paul’s advice to heart, that we ‘examine ourselves to see if we are even in the faith…and if Christ is in us…lest we fail the test’ (2 Cor. 13:5). Certainly ‘comparing ourselves with others’ is not the wisest way to evaluate, I hope we could all agree on. So why not use God’s word as a ‘mirror’ of sorts, to see how we ‘line up’?

Jesus gave a pretty good benchmark where ‘all would know’ whether we were His followers or not…’by the love we have/demonstrate for one another’, in John 13:34-35. And while that word ‘love’ can be quickly diluted in our modern day culture where that word gets tossed around to describe how we ‘love God’ or ‘love pancakes’…1 Cor. 13:1-8 gives us a nice description as to what the ‘God kind of love’ should look like.

And then there’s John’s words found in chapter 2 of his first epistle, that can be easy to ‘skim over’ if we are not careful. Give yourself a moment and take his words to heart:

“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (3-6)

Did you notice there how we can quickly identify whether one is truly “in Christ”…and whether one is truly ‘abiding’ in Him? There’s not a lot of ‘wiggle room’ in that passage there, and as James admonishes…we’d do good to not be too quick to walk away from this ‘mirror’ as we make sure that we are not just ‘hearing/reading’ what it says, but that we are ‘doing’ what it says. (James 1:22-25)

If I may, I’d like to share from a personal perspective what I have come to learn and experience in my own journey of late, when it comes to abiding in Christ. And I emphasize these are personal…observations to help bring some perspective.

I know I write often, pointing out passages from John’s writings here, how anyone who is abiding in Him ‘does not sin’ (1 John 3:6-9; 5:18; 2:6). But please know that I don’t find myself walking around being ‘sin conscious’, nor do I carry around a mental list of ‘commandments/laws/rules’ that I make sure I am ‘keeping’.

Nor do I walk around continually thinking that “I didn’t sin today”…or that “I am sinless”. My mind is not set or fixed on ‘sin’, or ‘commandments’ or even myself in general. I am learning more and more what it means to ‘set my mind on things above, and not on the earth’ (Col. 3:2)…as the ‘renewing of my mind’ is instrumental in my ongoing ‘transformation’ (Rom. 12:1-2). The ‘things of this earth’ have a way of ‘growing strangely dim’…as I pursue Him more and more, as that song reminds us.

I find myself giving ‘more earnest heed to the things He says…lest I drift away’ (Heb. 2:1).

I have found it is much easier to ‘bring into captivity…every thought to the obedience of Christ’ (2 Cor. 10:5)…when I’m abiding in Him. There is just a greater awareness of His presence, as this ‘abiding’ goes both ways, as Jesus points out in John 15:1-8). And for those of you who convince yourselves that you are not abiding in Jesus because you have ‘bad thoughts’ cross your mind…take a deep breath, because simply having such thoughts does not mean you have sinned, or are not abiding in Him. Jesus had ‘bad thoughts’ cross His mind as well; what do you think ‘temptation’ is all about? (Heb. 4:15 ;James 1:13-16 )

Jesus said that ‘His sheep…hear His voice, and He knows them….and they follow Him’. (John 10:27). IF God has your heart…and He is needing/wanting to communicate something to you…you will know it; trust me. That’s usually when you discover ‘how much’ of your heart He has; because He said ‘If you love Me, you’ll do what I say.” (John 14:15). Something else I have come to learn is that God is not a ‘micro-manager’, wanting to direct every single decision you make throughout the day. We are told that when we ‘acknowledge Him in all of our ways, He’ll direct our steps’ (Prov. 3:6)…but if you find yourself stalled out every morning trying decide whether God wants you to wear the red top of the blue one when getting dressed, it may be a ploy of the enemy wanting to confuse, if not discourage you. But I sure would recommend spending some quality time with Him before your day gets started.

One of the best analogies I have found to describe what abiding in Christ has been like…for me, at least…is that of driving a car down a two lane highway. As long as I have my eyes on the road ahead of me and both hands on the wheel…I find myself cruising along in peace. Peace really is how He leads/guides us (Luke 1:79; Col. 3:5). And it’s when you ‘lose that peace’…that lets you know when you have, or are close to ‘drifting’ out of that ‘lane’. Lots of those roads have ridges or some form of nodules built in that rattles your car when you cross over that line. Pay attention to that as it can be a quick way for the Holy Spirit to get your attention. I should also add that God’s word makes for a good ‘road map’. The more time you spend studying it, the better acquainted you become with the route you are traveling. It also provides much needed info on ‘obstacles’ in the road up ahead.

For example…when you read there in Eph. 5 how ‘foolish talking and coarse/obscene talk should not even be named among us’…let that register, so the next time you are in a setting where you are tempted to participate in the like…you know what to avoid. If there is one thing that I have noticed in my walk in recent years…is I am more prone to ‘being quick to listen and slow to speak’, which is huge for me (James 1:19). One last example, for now- it’s one thing to deliberately speed or run red lights because you are in a hurry and have no regard for traffic laws. It’s another thing to not be paying attention…and get pulled over for speeding 15 mph over the limit. That ‘speeding ticket’ you may end up with is a form of ‘chastisement’ and serves as a painful reminder that you better not do that again. So it is ‘if’ we sin. God will ‘chasten us’…and it can be unpleasant and even ‘painful’ at times; but He does that because He loves us. (Heb. 12:5-14)

The best thing I have come to learn and appreciate about abiding in Him…is IF…we are abiding in Him…being led by His Spirit…He will lead us to ‘walk uprightly’, (Rom. 8:4,14; Gal. 5:16). And this I know…”He withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly before Him” (Ps. 84:11). Can you give me one good reason as to why anyone would NOT…want to abide in Him continually…unless there was something in your heart you loved more than Jesus?