2023
What Does It Mean to Be a Christian?
July 2023

“What Does It Mean to Be a Christian?,” Liahona, July 2023.

Come, Follow Me

Acts 11

What Does It Mean to Be a Christian?

Image
Jesus teaching people

Christ Teaching His Disciples, 19th-Century English School, © Look and Learn / Bridgeman Images

In the book of Acts we learn that the disciples who followed Christ in the early Church “were called Christians” (Acts 11:26). Likewise, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints strive to be good Christians. But what does it mean to be a Christian?

It is not a simple declaration of belief. Being a Christian requires more than devotion in name only. Elder Robert D. Hales (1932–2017) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles asked: “What kind of Christians are we? In other words, how are we doing in our quest to follow Christ?”1

Christlike Qualities

Elder Hales encouraged us to evaluate our progress in developing the following Christlike qualities:2

  • Love

  • Faith

  • Sacrifice

  • Caring

  • Service

  • Patience

  • Peace

  • Forgiveness

  • Conversion

  • Endurance to the end