“Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”
John 8:31-32
I have always been fascinated and challenged by what it means to abide in Christ. The word abide is the Greek word meno, which is a verb that means to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy). Other words used can be remain, continue, dwell, and to live. This word is used 120 times in the New Testament.1 You may be wondering what it actually means to abide in Jesus. Let me explain.
Abiding is not only a position; it is also a practice. Positionally, Jesus abides within every Christian through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. 1 John 3:24 says, “Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us” (ESV). Practically, you abide in Jesus by aligning yourself in an environment to preserve intimacy with Him. Abiding is a two-way street. Jesus’s abiding in every believer will never change, for He promised, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). Only one in the relationship can keep His end of the agreement and that is Jesus. He is always faithful. However, our abiding in Him may fluctuate at times. Our position in Christ will never change, but the practice of abiding in Him, which is our responsibility, can and does.
Our present environment is either constricting or contributing to our growth. We are either flourishing or floundering by it. We must ask ourselves the question, What does our present spiritual environment look like? As we near the end of the year, it is a perfect time to evaluate the context of our lives to determine if we are positioned for spiritual growth or not and to make the correct changes if necessary.
One of my favorite passages in Scripture is John 8:31-32. “Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” Can you guess the phrase that pops out of these verses to me? There are a few actually. “If you continue in my word” is the big one for me. The word continue is the same word for abide. What these verses reveal to us is that we continue and abide in Jesus through His Word. This is also how we “will know the truth.” I think you would agree. We need truth today more than ever before!
The idea of continuing in God’s Word is to be present in His Word. In other words, do not depart from His Word. Hold fast to His Word. Dwell in His word. Stay in His Word. As my husband Robby says, “Get into the Word until the Word gets into you.” If Jesus was the walking Word in the flesh, according to John 1, shouldn’t we walk with Him in the Word?
You can do this whether you feel weak or strong in this season of life, whether you are joyful or sorrowful, whether times are easy or hard, whether you have all the time in the world or even no time at all. We are all feeding ourselves with something. It is either the Word or the world. One influence will be speaking louder than the other. Which one screams for your attention? Remember, abiding is a two-way street. You aren’t in this relationship all on your own. Jesus abides in you through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit indwells us in a real, active, and dynamic way.
It is important to understand that no one is more essential to our own spiritual growth than we are. You can’t outsource your devotional time to someone else. It’s not the responsibility of our pastor, church, teacher, spouse, child, friend, or mentor to strengthen us. It is our responsibility. The problem is that we think we can outsource or delegate it, and we can’t. All of them can help us on the journey, but at the end of the day, it’s our path to walk.
For me, the lightbulb moment was when I realized that abiding is lifestyle. It is living and obeying Jesus and His Word though the life experiences God has given us.
Let me ask you, have you ever gone on a diet before? If you haven’t, you are a rarity. There are so many diets and fads today and throughout time for losing weight and feeling great, right? There’s the Atkins diet, the Richard Simmons plan (anyone remember sweating to the oldies and dancing across your living room with your mom?), WeightWatchers, Nutrisystem, Whole30, keto, paleo, anti-inflammatory, low carb low sugar, no carb no sugar, and the list goes on. Any one of these diets may be effective and may help you to lose weight, but what happens the moment you stop doing that particular diet? You gain the weight right back. The diet may work for a season, but a season won’t maintain your life.
In order to have a lasting change, you must make a lifestyle change that will stay with you for the rest of your life. I like to say it this way: For it to be sustainable, it must be maintainable. How you abide is no different. For you to abide and sustain a growing relationship with Jesus and His Word, it must be maintainable.
How does one remain in the Word? Here are a few suggestions to help:
1. Read the Word by choosing a Bible reading plan.
2. Record what God reveals to you by journaling. (I teach the HEART journaling method in The Bible in a Year resource.)
3. Retain the Word by incorporating Scripture memory.
4. Live in community and accountability with godly relationships in your life.
How can we accomplish this in a maintainable and reasonable way with the busy schedules we have? I created The Bible in a Year to help busy believers thrive in an intimate relationship with Jesus and His Word. It takes the guesswork out of what to read and when to read. The guided resource is meant to enhance your time with Jesus and help you abide and be present with Jesus regularly. If you need a resource to help you this upcoming year, I hope you look at The Bible in a Year. My prayer is that it will help you as it has helped me.
Read the entire Bible in 2023 with The Bible in a Year by Kandi Gallaty! Bundle the Bible study with the Lifeway Women CSB Bible and save more than $20. Offer valid through 12/31/2022. Learn more here!
Kandi Gallaty is a pastor’s wife, a mother of two precious boys (Rig and Ryder), a speaker, and a writer who is devoted to making disciples by cultivating a passion in women for God’s Word. She and her husband, Robby, coauthored Foundations, and together they lead Replicate Ministries, a ministry that educates, equips, and empowers believers to make disciples who make disciples. Kandi and her family live outside of Nashville, Tennessee, and serve at their church, Long Hollow Baptist Church.
1. Strong’s G3306, “menō,” Blue Letter Bible, https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3306/kjv/tr/0-1/.
