Many people have asked this question since Jesus walked the earth. One of the writers of a book in the Bible called James wrote in his letter, "What is the good of a man's saying he has faith, if he has no good deeds to show?... Show me your faith without any good deeds, and I will show you my faith by my good deeds". (James 2:14ff)

If our faith in Jesus Christ i.e. our belief in everything He said and did, is merely about saying yes in our minds to a list of religious suggestions, then we are not living the fullness of life He desires for us. If we sincerely believe that Jesus rose from the dead, we are able, like Jesus, to endure challenges and suffering with real calmness and dedication. The Cross will make itself felt in the different circumstances of our lives. It is by uniting our lives with Jesus that everything we experience is given a real spiritual meaning.

We are also invited to use the gifts that God has given us. We use these to show how great He is and draw attention to Him and not ourselves. He gives us His own Spirit to help us to live out the kind of selfless love that Jesus spoke about and exemplified, such as in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). And we must forgive as the Lord forgives, such as in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).

There is no better way of making our everyday lives shine with Christian love and compassion than by a commitment to daily spending some time with God, known as ‘prayer’. Rather than seeing life and work as separate from our spirituality, it is important for a Christian to bring all that he or she does in life to God through prayer.