How can imperfect people like us live a Christ-like Life?
Is it even possible?
What does the Bible say?
For the Christian, heaven is not a goal; it is a destination and becoming like Christ is a long, slow process of growth. We bear the name of Christian. Let us be true to this name. To be a Christian means to be Christlike. It means to follow Christ in self-denial, bearing a banner of love, honoring Christ by unselfish words and deeds.
In the life of the true Christian self is dead as there was no selfishness in the life that Christ lived while on this earth. Bearing our nature, He lived a life wholly devoted to the good of others. In word and deed, Christ’s followers are to be pure and true. In this world — a world of evil and corruption —Christians are to reveal the love of Christ. If we will die to self, if we will enlarge our idea of what Christ can be to us and what we can be to Him, if we will unite with one another in the bonds of Christian fellowship, God will work through us with mighty power. Then we shall be sanctified through the truth and showered with grace. We shall indeed be chosen by God and directed by His Spirit. Every day of life will be precious to us because we shall see in it an opportunity to use our entrusted gifts for the blessing of others.
You are a work in progress. Your spiritual transformation in developing the character of Jesus will take the rest of your life, and even then it won’t be completed here on Earth. It will only be finished when you get to Heaven or when Jesus returns.
We today lack a theology of growth. And so we need to learn how we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. God’s purpose is to make us like him before he takes us to Heaven. This is our greatest privilege, our immediate responsibility, and our ultimate destiny.
Read these 12 Bible Verses about living a Christ-like life ”¦
1 John 2:6
Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
1 Corinthians 11:
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
1 Peter 2:21
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
Ephesians 5:1-2
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
John 13:13-17
You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Ephesians 4:22-24
To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
John 14:15
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Galatians 3:27
For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Titus 3:1-8
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, …
Romans 8:29
For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Romans 8:2-8
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Are one of these verses particularly meaningful to you? Share your thoughts in comments? Want to add another verse? Add it in comments as well”¦
