What are the characteristics of a Christian ????

The Fruit of the Spirit:  Galatians 5:22,23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  (NIV)

Hi Tippy. You know that Satan is an antagonist, a pest,  and the only purpose he has is to kill, steal and destroy all God has done and can ever do. None of us are exempt. It seems to me that Satan goes after God's people, and those who say they are God's people the hardest. And the truth is that God allows this to show us how strong our Faith really is.

I have always believed that the only way to have a close relationship with God, and follow Jesus' example is to also know the Enemy and his Character.  Most Religions don't talk about Satan, they say; "keep your eyes on God." But then how do we know who we're fighting? How do we know if our anger is righteous anger or selfishness? How do we know if we are speaking on behalf of God and who He is, or on behalf of Satan and who he is?  The truth is, so many people don't know the difference.  I believe they love God, they believe in God, but not enough to study on their own who He is, or who the Enemy is.  As Christians, or Men and Women of God, we have a big responsibility to teach all facets of the Bible. Never be afraid discouraged, or disappointed by people's ignorance.... because that is exactly what Satan hopes for. He wants you to just go away and leave the lost and blind alone! And he will use the lost and blind to push you away.. and yes, (using the name of God). You know he hates people, and will put demons amoung us where ever we are. But so what, WE ARE HERE, JESUS IS HERE TO STAY!!!

Tippy, it breaks my heart to say this, and I know you already know this, "The path is narrow, and very few will make it." Matthew 7:13

God bless you, my Sister in Christ.

We, as Christian have to speak softly.  The computers we use have no emotions, therefore some of the things we type on the screen may sound harsh, when in fact that was not our intent.  I am saved, yet not perfect.  We all, in someway or other interpert the Bible differently.  If I don't believe the EXACT way another believes, I should not be told I am wrong, or start an arguement over it.  My daddy was a Minister, I learned from him.  Not saying that every thing he taught me is correct, but it will linger in my heart forever, and I now must lean unto the guidence of the Holy Spirit, and learn on my own.  Sometimes, when I read the postings on Yedda, I see a ton of self-rightousness.  Before we can remove the spot from our brothers eye, we must first remove the log from our own.

God"s Word is love.  If we cannot listen, with out retalliation to what others have to express about the way they understand and preceive the Word, we need to go back to page one.  I am not going to argue with any one about the way I have been taught.  If I am wrong, God will show me.  If we are being led by the Holy Spirit when addressing others, we will speak softly, not act as though we know all about it.  We, as Christians, don't by any means know all about it.  The best, that we know nothing about, is yet to come.

My dear Christian,

We may attribute any number of characters to a christian. But in the real life I find it difficult to practice what I believe some times. But  I never give up, keep on trying and God makes me able to sustain a christian life.

From your questions and answers I find you innocent, simple, believing, loving Jesus and the Church caring, always trying to defend fellow christians. You are an ideal christian and one christian should be like you.

Thank you dear christian

Deborah, mommasgirl and meghahome,

Thank you for your sincere answers. I really enjoyed reading them. They show true characteristics of what our Lord would want us to be. Nobody's perfect and I will be the first one to admit it. If we were perfect we would not have had need for a perfect saviour. Deborah, your answer was on the money. Satan is busy trying to destroy God's people and it is very important that we recognize him.

I strive everyday to do what I think that the Lord would want me to do. No doubt being flesh, it is hard but as the apostle Paul tells us we have to train our flesh to do what it does not want to do; bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in readiness to revenge all disobedience, when our obedience is fulfilled. My daughter bought me a necklace (WWJD) that I cherish because it is a constant reminder to me; What would Jesus do? Mommasgirl, you are right too, when you say that we must speak softly. Computers do not have emotions, therefore we must be mindful of our audience. The bible says " For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned".

I truly appreciate your comments because it is always good to hear what other Christians are thinking.

Be Blessed in the Lord my sisters in Christ

A Christian follows Christ in word and deed, this means that he proclaims the words and teachings of Christ and tries to follow them with actions. We are to be little Christs, the bride of Christ who submits to him and seeks to please him in all she does.

Bill Bray+

Tippy, allow me to tell you about an old Senior Chief Petty Officer (who shall remain nameless).  He had been in the Navy twenty-six years when I transitioned aboard as an Ensign.  He had accepted Christ as a boy but suffered terrible conflicts and doubt as he grew older and served in the Navy.  The worst part was that he was one of the five men aboard entrusted with nuclear weapons and was sworn to arm them for combat should the need arise. 

Those horrors do not kill one or two comabants in the field.  They can kill millions.  They who saw the blinding flash of those diabolical things would never see anything else.

I asked him why. 

"Have you seen those Soviet trawlers working the Pacific about 200 miles off the US coast?  They carry five of these maddening things for one that we have, and that is what we know about.  Intel says they have more like nine for our one.  These little darlings will use them unless we keep them from doing it.  But it gets better!  If one nation launches one of those devils, eight more will launch, the sky will go black with ICBM's, and a billion people will all cry out in agony at once.  Then they will die.  Now, preacher man, how much death do you want to see if I dump these crates overboard the way I have wanted to ever since I shipped aboard this bucket?"

Such thoughts are never easy to consider, but I had no choice.  The more I thought about it, the madder it all seemed.  There had to be an answer.  Why hadn't God shown us the answer?  I know that I had prayed through on it.

Then I hit the low spot of my career: that was not God's doing.  God gave us the power to choose, to explore, to reason, and to act.  What we did with what we had created told God everything about us. 

That is why we were here at all.  What we do tells what we are.  Whom we follow tells how we think.  How we deal with madness, adversity, violence, and hatred, tells more about us than anything we might ever say.  These are things that an actor might perform in a play.  But in a greater sense, we write our own part, if only to show what is in us.

We who have taken center stage must leave the set intact for the next performer when we have played our part.  Eventually, we will strike the set when the play closes.  Let's please not burn down the theater.

In Jesus' Name, I bid you peace.

According to "Deborah," Satan is alive and well, and living on planet Earth.  How true.  I used to tour the ready rooms of all the squadrons aboard the Kittyhawk, and they all had training posters.  One that hit me was, "Know your enemy."  The poster told about enemy aircraft, their weapons, and their weaknesses. 

It also hit me that we are in a war between God and Satan.  Why?  We must each find out for ourselves, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Satan's primary tactics are to reduce us to his control through our own worst failings.

*Greed.  The irrational desire for things we don't need and can't use.  It shows up worst in gamblers.  We should be responsible with our finances and share the wealth.

*Lust.  The irrational desire for pleasures of the flesh, beyond its' wholesome role it plays in marriage.  We should be madly in love with our spouse, which begets children, who also deserve the nurture of a Godly family.

*Envy.  The irrational desire to be like everyone else.  We should emulate a sound example but just conforming to fads is madness.  We should emulate Christ, growing as we can, consistently and happily.

*Pride.  The irrational demand to get our way regardless that it is not the best course of action.  We should do what makes good sense and work together.

*Selfishness.  The irrational desire for first consideration in everything.  We should take turns with our duties and pleasures, orderly, as God has asked of us.

*Anger.  The irrational over-reaction to innocent or unintentional wrongs.  We should learn to forgive and forget, as God has forgiven us and forgotten our sins.

*Laziness.  The irrational desire to avoid work, rest excessively, and foist our duties on others.  We must motivate ourselves to do the best that God put in us if we are to be fit stewards of His mercy.

*Fear.  The irrational thought that we are subject to harm when no actual danger exists or repetitive suspicions of others' actions.  We must show the courage Christ showed when He handed Himself over to the Romans to be crucified. 

*Superstition.  Irrational beliefs (generally of an occult nature) that do not meet the tests of Scripture, inspiration, or reason.  That includes cults. 

When we overcome our most unreasonable failings, we grow.  The course takes exactly one lifetime.  It may be short or long, but by the time a child hits puberty, he has made most of these decisions.  All the rest of life is meant to refine them.

Paul is speaking about the fruits of the Spirit, what the Holy Spirit (a righteous seeking mindset) produces. You assumed that he was talking about christians.