Becoming more like Christ is the desire of every believer, and it is encouraging to know that God has the same desire for us. In fact, the Bible says that God “predestined [believers] to be conformed to the likeness of his Son” (Romans 8:29). Making us Christlike is God’s work, and He will see it through to the end (Philippians 1:6).
“God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” (Philippians 2:13 NLT)
It is the Holy Spirit’s job to produce Christ-like character in you.
The Bible says, “As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT). This process of changing us to be more like Jesus is called sanctification.
You cannot reproduce the character of Jesus on your own strength. New Year’s resolutions, willpower, and best intentions are not enough. Only the Holy Spirit has the power to make the changes God wants to make in our lives. The Bible says, “God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13).
Mention the “power of the Holy Spirit,” and many people think of miraculous demonstrations and intense emotions. But most of the time the Holy Spirit’s power is released in your life in quiet, unassuming ways that you aren’t even aware of or feel. He often nudges us with “a gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:12 NIV).
Christ-likeness is not produced by imitation, but by inhabitation. We allow Christ to live through us. “This is the secret: Christ lives in you” (Colossians 1:27 NLT).
How does this happen in real life? Through the choices we make. We choose to do the right thing in situations and then trust God’s Spirit to give us his power, love, faith, and wisdom to do it. Since God’s Spirit lives inside of us, these things are always available for the asking.
There are three things which contribute to our being more Christlike: our surrender to God, our freedom from sin, and our spiritual growth.
1) Becoming more Christlike is the result of surrender to God. Romans 12:1-2 says that worship involves a total self-dedication to God. We volunteer our bodies as “living sacrifices,” and our minds are renewed and transformed.
When Jesus said, “Follow me,” Levi left his money tables immediately (Mark 2:14); so do we freely surrender all we have for the sake of following the Lord. As John the Baptist said, “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30), so we focus more and more on Jesus and His glory, losing ourselves in His will.
2) Becoming more Christlike is the result of freedom from sin. Since Jesus lived a sinless life, the more we consider ourselves “dead to sin” (Romans 6:11) and live a life of purity, the more like Jesus we will be. As we offer ourselves to God, sin is no longer our master, and we are more clearly identified with Christ (Romans 6:1-14).
Jesus invites us to follow Him, and we have His example of obedience (John 15:10), sacrificial love (John 15:12-13), and patient suffering (1 Peter 2:19-23). We also have the example of the apostles, who modeled Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).
When it comes to restraining sin in our lives, we have divine help: praise the Lord for the Word of God (Psalm 119:11), the intercession of Christ (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25), and the power of the Spirit who indwells us (Romans 8:4; Galatians 5:16)!
3) Becoming more Christlike is the result of Christian growth. When we are first saved, we are immature in wisdom and knowledge and inexperienced in grace and love. But then we grow. In each of these things, our charge is to become stronger—and more Christlike. “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else” (1 Thessalonians 3:12).
Right now, God works in us: “We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18). One day, however, the process will be complete: “When he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). The promise of being fully Christlike in the future is in itself motivation for becoming more Christlike now: “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:3).
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