{"id":96144,"date":"2026-06-16T16:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T21:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=96144"},"modified":"2026-06-16T16:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T21:11:11","slug":"qualities-of-a-christian-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/qualities-of-a-christian-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Qualities of a Christian Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by David Gibson<\/p>\n<p>For years, I have taught that the balanced Christian life includes these four things:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>prayer,<\/li>\n<li>Bible study,<\/li>\n<li>fellowship with Christians, and<\/li>\n<li>involvement in the Lord&#8217;s work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And for even longer, I have sung the classic hymn &#8220;Take Time to Be Holy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But then it dawned on me that this song includes all four of these essential qualities of the healthy Christian life:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Prayer: &#8220;Take time to be holy, \/ Speak oft with thy Lord.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Bible study: &#8220;Abide in Him always, \/ And feed on His word.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Fellowship: &#8220;Make friends of God&#8217;s children&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Involvement in the Lord&#8217;s work: &#8220;Help those who are weak.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Just as a car must have all four wheels on the ground to make progress, all four essential elements of the Christian life must be there if we hope to move onward and upward.<\/p>\n<p>In the hymnal we use in our congregation, under the title &#8220;Take Time to Be Holy,&#8221; is this passage: &#8220;<em>Be holy in all you do<\/em>&#8221; (I Peter 1:15-16 NIV, 1984).<\/p>\n<p>Though W. D. Longstaff penned this hymn in 1882, it is as relevant today as ever. May we not only practice what we preach but also practice what we sing, making sure we faithfully maintain all aspects of the life God has called us to live.<\/p>\n<p>Taking time for each of them.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by David Gibson For years, I have taught that the balanced Christian life includes these four things: prayer, Bible study, fellowship with Christians, and involvement in the Lord&#8217;s work. And for even longer, I have sung the classic hymn &#8220;Take Time to Be Holy.&#8221; But then it dawned on me that this song includes all&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[913,253,1543,1026,1531],"class_list":["post-96144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-bible-study","tag-fellowship","tag-good-works","tag-holy","tag-prayer"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36237,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-useless-to-pray-for-a-wife\/","url_meta":{"origin":96144,"position":0},"title":"Is it useless to pray for a wife?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When it comes to marriage, I know that we are the ones who chose who we are with. I know that God did not make nor designed a special person for you and there are millions of people on the planet with which we can possibly be happy. So\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51363,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-an-elders-wife-be-a-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":96144,"position":1},"title":"Must an elder&#8217;s wife be a Christian?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I need some advice, sir. Can a man, who meets all qualifications to be an elder, serve as an elder if his wife isn't a Christian? If you don't care, please explain your thoughts and the biblical standpoint. Any advice would be appreciated. Answer: In looking for qualified men\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49935,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-ruined-my-reputation-as-a-christian-do-i-have-to-marry-the-woman-i-had-sex-with\/","url_meta":{"origin":96144,"position":2},"title":"I ruined my reputation as a Christian. Do I have to marry the woman I had sex with?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello sir, I have read some of your answers related to\u00a0sexual sins, and I thought I would seek Godly help from you. I was a very strict Christian in my early life. However, after completing my education, I desired worldly things instead of growing in God. I am staying\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12161,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-christian-love-demand-a-willingness-to-lay-down-your-life-for-a-friend\/","url_meta":{"origin":96144,"position":3},"title":"Does Christian love demand a willingness to lay down your life for a friend?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: While teaching the adult class I made the statement that a true characteristic of Christian love is that one would be willing to lay down his\/her life for his\/her friends.\u00a0 One lady stated that she could not do that.\u00a0 What are your thoughts?\u00a0 How would you answer this lady's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32774,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-should-be-done-about-a-preacher-whose-wife-no-longer-attends\/","url_meta":{"origin":96144,"position":4},"title":"What should be done about a preacher whose wife no longer attends?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We have a minister whose wife no longer attends church services. We have no elders. What should we do, or what should he do? (I Timothy 3:5). Answer: A preacher is not the same duty as an elder, nor does a preacher have the same requirements on him as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15925,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-get-my-non-christian-husband-interested-in-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":96144,"position":5},"title":"How can I get my non-Christian husband interested in the church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: First, I want to say I really enjoy this web site. I am a sister in Christ and have been most of my life. I happened to marry a non-Christian man. I would like to say to any of the sisters, or brothers, out there that are searching for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96144"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96147,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96144\/revisions\/96147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}