How Do I Begin to Show My Love for Christ?
You Should Be Baptized in Water
One of the first actions that you should do to show your love for Jesus Christ is to be baptized in water. Water baptism is a meaningful ceremony that identifies you with Jesus and it testifies to the world that you are now a disciple of Christ.
Water baptism is an action that you should take after accepting Jesus as your Savior and Lord. The act of being baptized in water does not save you but it tells the world of your decision to follow Jesus with all your heart.
Here is what will happen when you are baptized in water. You will be in water, usually in a river or a tank if you are being baptized in a church. The minister will assist you as he lowers you completely into the water. He will then lift you out of the water. This ceremony is actually very simple and painless. However, it is also very meaningful.
See, when you are lowered completely into the water, this identifies you with the death of Jesus Christ. Symbolically, your old life of sin and shame is left in the water. Then, your coming out of the water symbolizes that you have risen to a new life of following Christ Jesus. This identifies you with the resurrection of Jesus. The old has gone, the new has come!
I will say it again but in a different way. Water baptism signifies that you are dead to sin as you were lowered completely into the water and that now you are alive to Christ as you rose out of the water.
The apostle Paul wrote about the meaning of water baptism in the book called Romans, “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness” (Romans 6:11-13).
The ceremony of water baptism is a wonderful opportunity to invite your friends and family to see that Jesus is now your Master and Lord. It is a powerful way of telling them that you are a new creation and that you are not turning back. It will also give you the opportunity to share with them the meaning of water baptism and share with them how they can come to Jesus as well.
Some who are new to following Christ were baptized as infants and now wonder if they need to be baptized again. The answer is yes. The act of being baptized in water is your declaration that you are now a Christ-follower. You were unable to make that declaration as a child but you are able to do so now.
So, how do you begin to show your love for Christ? You do so by identifying with Jesus in water baptism. As you travel life’s journey I pray that you will become more like Christ each day.