What differences will being a Christian make in this life?
There are as many reactions to being a Christian and having new and eternal life in Jesus as there are people. Sadly many do not seem to be any different than they were before they were Christian.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto
spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have
fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to
bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for
whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye
not carnal, and walk as men?
Revelation 3:14-17 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans
write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the
beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art
neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because
thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of
my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods,
and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
However, there are some that become the light on a hill that we were intended to be.
Acts 17:10-11 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas
by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the
Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they
received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the
scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Revelation 3:4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not
defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they
are worthy.
Acts 16:14-15 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of
the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the
Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of
Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us,
saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my
house, and abide there. And she constrained us.
The Christian life offers the potential to be more. Here is a quote attributed to St. Nikolai Velimirovic, a Serbian bishop imprisoned by the Nazis at Dachau in WWII.
Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have.
Friends have bound me to earth, enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.
Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world. Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.
The idea that the Christian life depends to a large extent on what you make of it can be found when the disciples asked for more faith.
Luke 17:5-10 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye
might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and
be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. But which of
you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by
and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And
will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird
thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward
thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did
the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when
ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We
are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
There are also choices we as Christians need to make in regard to how much we want to surrender to God and how much we want to keep for ourselves.
Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of
God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to
this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that
ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of
God.
Some people preach that Christians will have prosperity in the world. However prosperity is a real impediment to the life to which we are called.
Matthew 19:22-26 But when the young man heard that saying, he went
away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto
his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly
enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich
man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it,
they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But
Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible;
but with God all things are possible.
There are Christians whose closeness to the Lord is shown in the wisdom, light, and love that emanates from them as a beacon.
There are more who are in-discernible from anyone else in the world.