5Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. 6He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. 7Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! 8Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death--and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion.
This is what Gods says about how you should live your life once you decide to follow Him. In other words you have to think and act like Jesus. We have to give up all of our pride and recognise that we are to consider ourselves "less than the least of all Gods people" (Eph 3:8) If you already live a life like that and you are already acting exacly as Jesus would then you do not have to change your life once that you become a Christian. However if you feel that you are acting like that your either insane or a lyer!
Change is at the very heart of the Gospel. It may be uncomfortable, painful and unwanted but we have to trust that Jesus knows what's best for us and can heal us from our sins.
Human nature dictates that we should hide things, sometimes in a positive way so as not to disapoint or hurt people but mostly so that we are portayed in as positive a way as possible. We all like to be liked. However as Christians we must be like glass men and women not hiding anything in our lives and not fearing to explain the full extent of the Gospel, despite the fact we might upset and offend people. Christians, if living the way Jesus wishes us to live, will be disliked and persecuted. We should not fear this, at the moment we can expect a maximum of 100 years on this planet. This is but a blink of an eye in the eternal scheme of things. Despite how uncomfortable and dangerous this life may be we can look forward to an eternity in Gods presence with no death, fear or sin, only pure unadulterated joy. As Paul put it "To live is Christ and to die is gain!" (Phillipians 1:21)
We must become different from the world, we must live by a completly different set of values and not stray from that way of living. Too many Christians now shout about getting people to realise that Christians are just the same as everyone else. Homosexuality, premarital sex, bad language and the lack of a Sabbath have all become all too acceptable. Is it a coincidence that this way of living has got more prevolent and at the same time Church attendance has decreased.