Are you an Effective Christian?

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My Pastor (Shaun) is starting his teaching in 2 Timothy this week and one section of the 1st Chapter got my attention:

2 Timothy 1: 7. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.

  Paul is sending a letter to Timothy and in these verses he describes three Characteristics of an effective Christian which are available with the Holy Spirit working within us. 
 Power:   Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
          To be a witness for Jesus takes Boldness that the Holy Spirit will equip us with – Verse 8 talks about not being Ashamed of our Testimony and especially of those that God has put in our path.
 Love:   My good Friend Nick – has a favorite quote    “Love Wins”      and it is a powerful gift when we use it in the right way.   The Spirit gives us the Power to love those we really do not want to be around…. it is through Grace that we can do this.  This is one the most powerful gifts we can have…
 Self-Discipline:  Here is a quote I pulled from the Web on this:  

1. Discipline and training of oneself, usually for improvement: Acquiring the habit of promptness requires self-discipline. “Self-discipline appears in various forms, such as perseverance, restraint, endurance, thinking before acting, finishing what you start doing, and as the ability to carry out one’s decisions and plans, in spite of inconvenience, hardships or obstacles.”

This gift can be shown in many different ways – and this is just a few examples…
     So I took these 3 Characteristics and did a self-evaluation on myself to see where I stood on being an Effective Christian…   I have to tell you that I need to work a little harder on all of these characteristics…   It will be something that I will focus on doing this week.

 So how do you stand on these three characteristics?

Are you an effective Christian?

Let the Holy Spirit do the work through you and focus on these during the week.

Bobbyg