It’s been a while since I have written a faith post. Today I thought I would post about something that has been mulling it around in my head lately. I recently finished a personal topical Bible study on the word “abide”. I love the search on the YouVersion app because it gives results that relate to a concept even if the verse doesn’t contain the exact word you searched for. Anyway, I leaned and gained so much from this study.

The word abide has several different meanings. As a verb, abide means “to endure”. Other definitions given by Webster’s are “to remain stable or fixed in a state” and “continue in a place”.

What does it mean to abide in Christ? As Christians, we must abide in Him. Jesus is speaking in John 15:4 when He says “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4 ESV). We cannot be productive, fruitful Christians without abiding in Christ. We must continue in Christ. To abide in Christ, we abide in His love. This truth is spoken by Jesus later in the same chapter. John 15:9 says “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”

Abiding in Christ is a relationship. We can’t just say we are in Christ. We have to keep His commandments. 1 John 3:24a says “Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him.” So to continue in this relationship we have to keep on obeying God, loving Him, and loving our neighbor.

I’m going to end this post with a verse that shows what a blessing it is that we can have a relationship with Christ. We can have confidence and assurance. I know I’m not worthy, and I’m thankful for His grace and love. There is nowhere I would rather be than abiding in Christ!

“And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.”(1 John 2:28 ESV)