How should Christians act?

Lately I’ve been asked this question a lot—

“How should a Christian act?”
“Christians don’t act like that.”
“How does that person call themselves a Christian?”
Or my personal favorite: “How do you call yourself a Christian when you do X, Y, and Z?”

I’m sure we’ve all heard it… and maybe even thought it.

But the other day, as I sat with the Lord, something simple came to my mind:
A Christian should act grateful.

Because at the end of the day, every single one of us shows up to God the same way—
Messy.
Broken.
Trying our best.
And most of the time… our best still isn’t enough.

And yet Jesus died for us anyway.

Not just for the ones who look like they have their lives perfectly together.
Not just for the ones who check all the boxes.
Not just for those who pray eloquently, memorize scripture flawlessly, tithe every Sunday, or never seem to slip.

He died for all of us.
The screw-ups.
The addicts.
The ones who keep falling into the same patterns.
The ones who can never seem to “get it right.”

That’s who He stretched out His arms for.

So when someone asks, “How should a Christian act?”
My heart keeps going back to this:

We should act grateful.
Because the truth is, we all deserved hell…
but Jesus made it possible for us to have heaven.

And not because we perform well.
Not because we say all the right things.
Not because we behave better than someone else.

But because we accept Him.
That’s it.

Maybe the real answer has always been the simplest one:

Go back to the basics—
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Live grateful.
And remember we’re all loved by the same God who rescues the messy.

-Noah