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“All Christians are believers but not all believers are Christians.” ~ X

I read somewhere that being a believer is accepting Christ, believing in what He did on the cross, and confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. The Bible even says in Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

But being a Christian goes beyond that. Christian, as the name implies, means Christlike. It means looking like Him, sounding like Him, loving like Him, living like Him.

These terms are often used interchangeably. We assume that once someone believes in Christ, the person automatically becomes Christlike. And yes, believing comes first. You cannot become like someone you do not believe in. But they are not exactly the same thing. One is the beginning. The other is the journey.

We were taught in Sunday school that the believers in the Bible were first called Christians in Antioch. That says a lot if we are paying attention. They did not wake up and give themselves that name. The people around them saw something. They saw a resemblance. They saw Christ in them. Their lifestyle preached before their mouths did.

Believing is one thing. It is the foundation. Anyone can say, “I believe.” Even demons believe. But living like Christ daily, choosing love when it is hard, choosing purity when it is unpopular, choosing obedience when it is inconvenient, that is the real work.

And it should not be separate. Ideally, the moment we believe, we should begin to live like Him. But growth takes time. Transformation is a process. This is why we have believers who still struggle with habits and patterns that do not point to Christ. This is why people sometimes say, “And he calls himself a Christian.”

Maybe he is a believer. Maybe he is growing. Maybe he is at the beginning of the journey. Becoming Christlike is not automatic. It is daily. It is intentional. It is stretching. It is surrender over and over again.

Dearest reader, I have but one question: are you just a believer, or are you becoming a Christian? Does your faith stop at believing, or does it extend beyond the borders of words into your lifestyle?

Something to think about today.

@favvy_Okwans🖤.

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