The true Christian life is directed toward God and a life which is modeled on the life of Jesus Christ. When a person gives him/herself to using Jesus as a model for his/her life, there is a real awakening to the marvel and beauty of human life, despite its natural challenges. It is helpful for the souls of those who live a life that is modeled on the life of Jesus to know the actions of God’s grace (help), so that – seeing God’s great care for sinners – they may glorify the unspeakable grace of God.
The true Christian life, according to Theophan, is the grace-given life, that is a life which recognizes God’s ongoing help. Self-made life can never be Christian. The beginning of the true Christian life is established in a grace-given awakening. Simply stated it means that the true Christian life begins when we truly begin to see all the help that God gives us. This, of course, requires that we desire to grow spiritually and want to have an awareness of God and our personal salvation.
Theophan believed that the first thing we must do is ask ourselves whether or not we truly want to spiritually grow and to gain salvation, that is an awareness of God and of the meaning and purpose of human life. It begins with us remembering that we are here on earth to learn how to be spiritual-physical beings, how to be children of God. It begins with us trying to understand why we are here!
God even helps us with this. He is constantly sending people into our lives to help us open our hearts and minds. Life continuously delivers the perfect experiences to help us grow in our understanding. We must become convinced that life has been designed to nurture and support our spiritual growth and development. We need to believe that God has, from all eternity, willed that life, as it is presented to us, is meant for our good, even the seriously challenges. Life is not meant to punish or disable us. It is meant to help us spiritually grow and come to understand how much we are loved by our Creator.
Of course getting to this point in our thinking takes much reflection and personal commitment. We have to want to know why we are here. We have to come to an understanding that the pursuit in life is not happiness, but an understanding of the meaning and purpose of life.