Principles for Today's Christians- Living as an exile

I've been a follower of Jesus Christ for over 35 years, and during that time, I've spent a great deal of time thinking through what it means to be a Christian and walk with the Lord in today's world. Just recently, I've been thinking about condensing those thoughts down to a set of principles that come out of the Bible...principles that are thus Biblical and should be remembered by every believer if they truly want to follow the Lord in this life.

These principles are grounded first of all in the belief that God exists and has revealed Himself to the form of the Trinity, i.e. the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This revelation has been through not only creation, but more specifically the Bible, which I believe to be inspired (literally God breathed) and thus inerrant. These principles pre-suppose that those who would follow them have true faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, and have submitted their lives to Him, seeking to live the life that God has prepared for them.

With this background, the first principle that I must daily remind myself of is that this world is not my home. It requires daily remembrance because I am created in such a way that where I am, I want to make my home. It is a natural response within me that where I am currently existing should be my home. But Scripture in many places reminds us that the world around us is different than when it was created, thus it is fallen and should no longer be the desire of my heart. Probably one of the best Scripture references is 1 John 2:15-17 where John writes do not love the world or the things in the world.

Thus true Christians must abide in this world not as natural citizens of the world, but rather as living in exile and many have put it. This naturally brings up the question of what it means to live in exile as opposed to living as a citizen. A citizen has an ultimate focus of improving their life in this world, while an exile lives with a focus beyond this world. The success or failure of a citizen's life is based solely on success and failure within this world, while the exile it looking for success in the eyes of the One who made this world. Two very different things, and thus two very different lives.