I Want to Be Like Jesus
As we look around at the growing influence of chaos and evil, it could be easy to keep silent, give up, and accept that being holy is impossible, even though Scripture guides us to be like the Lord. In that moment of doubt, we remember the Bereans. Luke admired their tenacity, saying this about the teacher and student: “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11, NIV). We must examine ourselves daily and test everything to ensure that what we hear is from God. Continue to believe and pray that Jesus will strengthen us with His power and dwell in His holy temple, where our minds are rooted and grounded in faith, and we are equipped for the works of holiness that God called us to do.
Please understand this, it is not about us; it is not about humans having the strength or character to attain holiness. If it were about us, we would fail. We must understand that “God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. This is why he sent Christ to make us what we are” (Eph. 2:10, CEV). When we are in Christ, we are new creations. As I understand it, our journey with the Lord begins when we publicly testify in the presence of God and our brothers and sisters in Christ that we believe in the Lord Jesus and are willingly making a living sacrifice to serve Him. If we truly believe, we see the manifestation of His power as He rose from the dead and conquered death. Couple this with the Scripture: “Jesus came and told his disciples, 'I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matt. 28:18, NLT); we understand that He is the way, the truth, and life. Surrender to Him, deny yourself, and put away those things that are unholy and could lead to God turning us over to a reprobate mind.
In Him, we can free ourselves from the Spirit of Fear. God did not give us a spirit of fear; therefore, in Him, we have no fear of rejection because we are never alone. Follow His Way and Truth and add knowledge, wisdom, and boldness to your faith, fully understanding that your mission is to go into the world, make disciples, and teach them to obey His commands. God does not give us a spirit of fear because fear clouds our minds and can change godly love into worldly hate. To only communicate with and love those who love and agree with you is not very courageous. “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them” (Luke 6:32, NLT)!
So, let us follow the Lord’s way and speak His truth as we travel to eternal life. Move freely because the mystery of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been revealed to the saints; therefore, let us walk and talk like children of God created to be like Jesus and do good work. Jesus came into the world as a light that shines into the darkness; if we walk in the light, the darkness cannot overtake us. Sin occurs in the darkness, and too many people love the darkness and do not choose to be holy and make their bodies a living sacrifice to the Lord. It is a choice, a deliberate choice to live outside God’s will. It is not God’s will for His children to be unholy, for He said: “Be holy, for I am holy.” Like Satan can masquerade as light, too many humans are doing the same thing, masquerading as a child of God. They know enough to pretend, but deep down in their minds, they understand that the mystery of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has not been revealed because they refuse to walk in the light and teach all He commands.
Jesus came to save us, gave up His divine powers for us, was separated from God for us, and died for us. When we give our lives to the Lord and our sins are forgiven, we are reborn and become a new creation in Christ, capable of obeying His commands. Yes, we struggle with our past life, but our struggles do not change God’s Word or the Gospel Message of Jesus Christ. He said, “Be holy for I am holy,” just because you are not holy yet does not mean you cannot be holy, nor does it make God a liar or His Word false. God gave us free will; so, let us examine what we think we know and follow His Way and Truth.
Amazingly, we sing a song “I want to be like Jesus” yet deny that we can be holy. How can that be? Let God’s Word order our steps as the Holy Spirit lead the way. He chose us before the foundation of the world to serve and be one in Him. The benefit we reap leads to holiness and the result is eternal life (Rom. 6:22). Without God’s grace, we cannot overcome our weaknesses, but with God, all things are possible, and holiness is not out of reach. Give your life to Christ and surrender to the Holy Spirit. Only then can God transform you into the human being He created in His image. God’s holiness reveals itself through us using the “fruits of the spirit,” which people often say they are observing to declare whether someone is holy or unholiness. Yes, God uses the fruits of the Spirit to reflect His goodness for others to see. When you look in the mirror, do you see what God wants you to be?
In our quest for the knowledge of truth, we must remember that the King of kings and God do not lie; therefore, as Bishop Patterson said in a song, “the Bible is right and somebody’s wrong”. This is about making your body a living sacrifice to the Lord and obeying the Gospel Message which says, “Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin” (Rom. 6:13, NLT). Are we seriously saying that with Christ we do not have enough self-control to restrain our bodies and prevent them from being instruments of evil to serve sin?
Our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus; so, let us endeavor always to show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-26). We have free will; however, with Christ, we are capable of crucifying our sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk with the Spirit. How can Christ speak through us if our bodies are not holy? Holiness is meant to be shared with the unholy just as Jesus shared it with us.
We should be content with what we have but continue to grow in knowledge and wisdom. Paul said, "I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content" (Phil. 4:11, NKJV); but when referring to his spiritual life, he testified, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:14, ESV). If you haven’t already, start pressing toward the goal of holiness and ask the Lord to show you what it means to be like Jesus, which means to live the life that Jesus lived while on earth as a human being. Remember God said, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13, NIV). Seek to be like Jesus, and you will find the attitude you need not to grow weary and lose faith in the truth of God’s Word. People are watching you, but God also looks down from heaven to see if anyone understands and seeks Him. If you want to be like Jesus, reach out to Him; since He is omnipresent, He is not far from any of us. Seek, and Jesus will give us a heart to know Him and be like Him.
