Lessons for Living from the Bible in Everyday English by Dennis Magee

The Christian life of prayer, Bible reading, church attendance and good deeds should not be done out of a feeling of obligation because we are Christians. There is nothing more we can do to change our status before God as far as salvation or reward in heaven. Rather, we should do these things and live the Christian life with an ever-increasing sense of gratitude as our knowledge of all that Christ and God did for us grows as a result of prayer, Bible reading and church. Our identity we derive from our work; but accomplishments and abilities should not be as strong as the identity we have in Christ. To derive our primary sense of pride from what we accomplish leads to pridefulness and causes us to value this as primary. In so doing, we replace Christ in importance with our own activities and achievements. We need to remember that it’s not we who are primary in importance, but Christ. As Paul says, our only boast should be in Christ and all He has done for us. Our primary identity should come from our spiritual union with Christ.