15 Power Phrases for the Christian Life
What does it mean to be a christian? It means you believe and accept the salvation God offers through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and surrender your life to Him and His leading. Believing and accepting salvation is simple. Surrendering our lives in return is a difficult task, as we still battle our fleshly desires on a regular basis.
I’ve put together a list of some phrases I remind myself of, and like to keep around my house to encourage me to stay steadfast in my walk with God. Because the Bible is literally God breathed and the most foundational piece of literature for the Christian faith, a lot of these powerful phrases are Bible verses or derived from verses.
1.) Success is in Jesus Christ
I love making goals. I love learning how to be successful and achieving my version of “success.” If you follow my blogs you know that I even have a list of daily non-negotiables as my minimal requirement of what it takes for me to have a “successful day.” (Not to mention the list I make for the other random things that need to get done.) That daily non-negotiable list encompasses things in regards to being successful in my faith, health, marriage, and motherhood.
However, above all, true success in life is found in Jesus Christ. Everyday that I do not walk with God is a day completely wasted, no matter what else I may “achieve” or get done. I’m not sure where I discovered this phrase, but for years now this has returned to the forefront of my mind. My health and body will fade. My family will pass on. My money and house will be worthless, and my things will end up in junk yards. My husband will not be here forever. God will be.
My success is found in Him, and him alone. If we are living to find success through Jesus, we cannot fail. If we are constantly running to Him, to love, serve, and be like Him, we will be truly successful at life. As Christian’s, true “success” cannot be found or built in anything the world has to offer: large families, our own company, finances, happiness, fame, power, or careers. Above all things, success is in Jesus Christ.
2.) While We Were Sinners (Christ Died for Us)
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
It was while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is powerful, because in that one verse we can observe 3 key points.
- God loves us unconditionally
Jesus was killed by the people he was laying his life down for. He loved them, us, so deeply, despite how they hurt and even killed Him. Let’s be real- I have a hard time liking someone who tailgates me a little too close, let alone people who have personally wronged and hurt me. Point is, we were sinners, and we are sinners. Everyday we battle earthly temptations. Sometimes we lose; we give into sin and sometimes we even do it on purpose in full consciousness. In this, God still loves us. Caught in the act of sin, He loves.
This kind of love, especially from a God (who laid out a pretty clear code of conduct for us to follow) is so profound. I remember a time in my life where I was deep in sin. In the middle of the absolute worst time in my life, He loved me and died for me. It’s a big deal. The more I understand how great His love is, the more I fall in love with Him.
- We have sinned
We have sinned, and we do sin. This matters because it reminds us to be humble. We cannot live our lives in a hypocritical fantasy of self-righteousness. Anything we do that has any value is because of and for God. Period. End of story.
Should we live in shame over this fact? Absolutely not- thank God for his abundant forgiveness! However, we must know this as we live life with other people- especially the ones who make seemingly poor decisions and are “bad” people. Our judgement towards others must be immediately tossed out the window, because at the end of the day, we all have sinned terrible, abusive, neglectful, disgusting, hurtful, abhorrent, immoral, nasty sins. I am amazed over and over again of God’s willingness to forgive our repenting hearts, heaven knows we need it. Remember where you’ve been, and let it keep you humble.
- Christ died for us
Christ died for us. He took on the punishment of our sins, so that we can have freedom in Him and receive the gift of salvation. That is super churchy talk that means the punishment (death/sacrifice) for our sins has been covered by Jesus so that instead of our souls going to hell after death, we have the opportunity to spend eternity in heaven with God. The pinnacle of the entire Christian faith lies in that He died for us. (And rose again btw! Check out John 19-21) Incredible.
Thank you, God.
Thank you, God.
Thank you, God.
Amen.
3.) Use What You've Got, and Use it for Good
*Shameless plug, I have a whole post on this that you can get here: Use what You have, and Use it for good.
I can’t talk about this without pulling right from 1 Peter 4:8-11:
“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
Read it again slowly, take that whole thing in. Love earnestly. Show hospitality without grumbling. Use the gifts you have been given, internal or external, to glorify God. Gifts don’t just include the fancy ones like healing and speaking in tongues.
If you have the gift of time and flexibility, use that to glorify God by spending time with elders at a nursing home or with a new mom. If you have the gift of money, live generously. If you have a house, let that house be a refuge and safe haven. If you have been blessed with children, raise them in a way that glorifies God and disciples them. If you are an incredible guitarist, share that with the world and use it to comfort. Any gift: good cooking, humor, physical strength, leadership, speaking ability, whatever you have or are good at, use it to love others and glorify God.
4.) For God SO Loved the World
God loves us SO much, He sent his Son down to be offered as a perfect sacrifice to cover our sins so that if we accept Jesus and the gift of salvation that he graciously, freely offers to us, we can have eternal life with Him. This is the gospel. This is the love our Heavenly Father has shown us. We deserved the cross, and worse- hell. For eternity. That’s intense, real, and true.
But God has abounding grace, ridiculous mercy and an incomprehensible amount of love for us. This is why we live for Him, because He loves and died for us.
Just a reminder: He is God. This means, He can do whatever He wants and is under no authority or morality, because he is authority and He defines morality. He has no obligation to love us the way He does. We are not entitled to His love or have earned (or could earn) it in any way. How blessed we are to have such a loving, good God. It’s easy to take this for granted when a loving, merciful and gracious God is all we know. Let’s remember that God is God. He is the ruler of all, and we are an undeserving people, yet He still loves, still cares, and still sacrificed for our salvation.
5.) Do Everything in Love
I love this verse, because it really encompasses the whole Christian “mission” in one sentence: Do everything in love. With this, we must also remember that God is love. (1 John 4:8) Doing everything in love, true love with God, results in fulfilling God’s will for our lives. It glorifies God and grows his kingdom. To do everything in love is to do everything with God: to refrain from evil, to keep His commands, to look after orphans and widows, to carry each others burdens, to do unto others as you would have them do unto you, to sharpen one another as iron sharpens iron, to encourage one another and build each other up in love, etc. I think that’s why the Bible references love so much:
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
John 15:12
“and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Romans 13:9-10
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
1 John 4:10-12
And so on, and so on, and so on.
A common question among Christians is, “What is God’s will for my life?” As if the Bible is not explicit or clear on what God asks of us: Do everything in love. This verse is a pillar for the christian faith.
6.) Seek (Him) First
This stems from the verse Matthew 6:33 that says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.”
I can’t move forward with this point without talking about Lauren Daigle’s song, “First” that was released in 2015. Her lyrics so beautifully describe the way we should be laying ourselves down and seeking Him and His glory before anything else. Here are the lyrics:
Before I bring my need
I will bring my heart
Before I lift my cares
I will lift my arms
I wanna know You
I wanna find You
In every season
In every moment
Before I bring my need
I will bring my heart
And seek You
First
I wanna seek You, I wanna seek You
First
I wanna keep You, I wanna keep You
First
More than anything I want, I want You
First
Before I speak a word
Let me hear Your voice
And in the midst of pain
Let me feel Your joy, ooh
I wanna know You
I wanna find You
In every season
In every moment
Before I speak a word
I will bring my heart
And seek You
First
I wanna seek You, I wanna seek You
First
I wanna keep You, I wanna keep You
First
More than anything I want, I want You
First
You are my treasure and my reward
Let nothing ever come before
You are my treasure and my reward
Let nothing ever come before
I seek You
First
(I wanna seek You)
First
I wanna seek You, I wanna seek You
First
I wanna keep You, I wanna keep You
First
More than anything I want, I want You
First
First
This concept of seeking Him first is a powerful reminder, because so often I catch myself trying to live the “christian life” without Christ. I try to love and live this “good” life purely in my own strength and in doing so, completely miss the mark of what it means to walk with God. He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit for a reason. We aren’t meant to walk alone, and if we try to do the will of God without first seeking God, we will fail over and over again. It’s how we end up burnt out and exhausted doing “God’s work.” The truth is, we can’t do Holy work sustainably without the Holy One, so we must seek him first.
Another thing I often catch myself doing is running to God during the high-highs and the low-lows. Seeking God is something we need to be doing throughout life, and most of life is not mountain tops, just as much as it is not valley lows. Most of life is mundane, routine, predictable and therefore, boring and uneventful- even in an era of glorified busyness.
I ask God to be blessed with a house. I also am quick to thank Him that I didn’t hit another vehicle while I fishtailed on black ice with my babies in the backseat. I’m not saying those things are bad, we should thank him for his goodness and provision, we should offer our requests, and talk to him about what is on our hearts in the highs and lows. However you will notice a common theme in those prayers and that is that the focus is on me: my life and my requests.
How often do we go to God soley asking for more of Him and more understanding of who He is? Seek first His goodness, His kingdom, and His righteousness.
7.) Rejoice in the Lord Always
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
Philippians 4:4
Rejoice.
Feel pain, and rejoice. In laughter, rejoice. When you’re stressed about paying bills, rejoice. God is good all the time. No matter what is going on in your world, He is always the same. The gift of eternal life that He has offered us is constant. So, there is always reason to rejoice.
8.) Give it to God
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Philippians 4:6
The second you feel anxiety creep up on you, give it to God. Whatever is causing you stress is no match for our God. Big or small, He is ready to hear it all because He wants to have a relationship with you. All too often I text a friend seconds after a minor life inconvenience to vent my frustration before I bring it to the feet of Jesus (if I even get that far!).
I’ve never read Philippians 4:6 as a suggestion, rather a command. “Do not be anxious about anything.” There is no wiggle room to dabble and sit in anxiety. We are called to bring it to God, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving. Look- I get it’s hard to be grateful for anything when you are filled with anxiety, hopelessness, doubt, and depression. However, the truth is, there is always something to be grateful for. As long as we have God, who is good, faithful, eternal, and has given us salvation, we always have something to be grateful for.
This sentence has been a powerful phrase for my life, because it doesn’t just apply to my hardships or anxiety. When we get good things: children, paychecks, skills, relationships, gifts, and other blessings, are we willing to give those to God? What might it look like to give those things to Him? When Jesus sent out the 12 disciples to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is near, he told them to heal the sick, raise the dead, and drive out demons. He follows that by saying, “Freely you have received, freely give.”
We’ve been given many gifts and many blessings. I pray that I do not become so parsimonious and greedy that I do not give freely what has been given to me. This phrase, “give it to God,” has been an incredible reminder to offer up what I have to the Lord, both the good and bad.
9.) All for His Glory
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.”
1 Corinthians 10:31-33
We step into life with a whole new outlook when we start our day with that reminder: whatever we do, do it all for the glory of God. When we accept the gift of salvation and offer to live our lives for Jesus in return, we are laying ourselves down for God’s glory. This means we no longer live our lives for ourselves, but to intentionally live and work to glorify God.
Just as much as this phrase is a powerful reminder, it’s a powerful convicter. Even in the recent past, (aka this morning after my toddler tackled his baby sister) I have acted and spoken in a way that does not glorify God. How we speak, how we work, how we eat and drink, how we talk about other people and interact with them, the state of our hearts while doing dishes or our attitude while disciplining our children – it all matters.
When other people look at us, do they see God? Are we a reflection of His love? Do we take glory for ourselves or point it back to God? We must ask ourselves on a daily basis: does this glorify God? As a born again believer, we need to be living all for His glory.
10.) Pray
I know, I know, this isn’t really a phrase, but at least it’s easy to remember, right?
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.“”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Prayer is how we communicate with God. If we want a true, deep relationship with Him, we must pray.
If I can be honest here, it’s not rocket science. If I stopped talking to my husband for weeks on end, we wouldn’t have a very solid relationship. He especially wouldn’t be too thrilled if I only called him up when I have a flat tire and need him to fix it, just to go back to giving him the silent treatment out of negligence.
Be in constant prayer with God. Learn to hear his voice by listening to what He has for you. God desires that closeness, so much so that he gave us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. We have Him right there, and we get to talk to Him as a friend anytime. How are we not taking advantage of this amazing gift? If you get anything out of this whole post, it’s to pray. Without connection with God, everything is meaningless.
11.) Give God your Weakness, and He will Give you His Strength
Pretty sure I saw this quote somewhere on Pinterest. It’s not the best source for information, but I do like this one!
God is our source of strength. We don’t have to try to do life’s tough times on our own, in fact, we really shouldn’t. Our weaknesses, our faults, our struggles are all things God can handle. Give them up to Him. Then, you can find rest, peace, and be strengthened in Him.
12.) Every Good Thing is from God
Every single good thing. This is something I love to remember, because it cultivates a heart of gratefulness and thanksgiving towards our Heavenly Father.
When I remember my children’s beautiful laughter is from God, I thank Him. The raises you get at work, the sunrise, the friends you have, the ability to feel joy and happiness, the overcoming of hard things, every good thing is worth thanking God for because every good thing is from Him.
13.) I'm not Here to be Happy
If no one has told you, I’ll be the one to let you know- it’s okay to not be happy.
Sometimes we need this reminder that being happy is not the main goal for us as Christians. As much as I love to be happy, comfortable, and maintain an easy lifestyle, it’s not what the Bible has spelled out for us. We are here to serve, to love, to live faithfully for our God. Anything else is secondary. This means sometimes our life will have waves of sacrifice, persecution, rejection, and hurt.
Additionally, you are not “failing” just because you are not happy or your life is hard. It’s hard to serve day in and day out. Exhaustion is uncomfortable. Any mom knows that just by serving her babies! Happiness is a wonderful feeling, but happiness does not equal success. Nor does an easy life or a life of comfort mean you are living the “perfect” life.
Jesus lived a perfect life, and He was crucified. Jesus was crucified. Job had his life fall apart at the seams. Noah spent about 10 months of life on an ark in the middle of the ocean that literally had no end in sight since water covered the entire Earth. These men, in seasons, were uncomfortable, unhappy, and didn’t not have an easy life, but these men were faithful. These men lived successful lives, because of their obedience to God.
14.) God is for God - Matt Chandler
We like to think that God is here for us and our benefit; He is here for our comfort, our support, and our salvation. Though there is some truth to that, it’s not the whole picture. God offers all those gifts to us as a loving God, for His glory.
“I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth- everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Isaiah 43:6-7
“In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:16
“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.“
1 Peter 2:12
“If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
1 Peter 4:11
This phrase is a great reality check for me as I walk out my christian faith. It’s nice to brand God as being here for us, and at our service, but the truth is He is here whether we are or not. I am not entitled to the love and goodness He freely offers. That is part of what makes God so wonderful.
His plan goes far beyond my one wisp of life that is here for a slight glimpse in history. I am a part of His work and His story, not the other way around.
15.) He is Worthy to be Praised
“I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”
Psalms 145:1-3
God is worthy of our praise, our worship, and our lives 100% of the time. It is the least we can do, for what He has done for us. He is always worthy to be praised.
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