April 27, 2024

"Seek to Be More like Jesus"

One of our daughters and her family recently came over to our house one evening for a visit. We played a couple of games, including one in which a player tries to get others to say a particular word but can only use gestures in order to do it. It is kind of like charades, only you have a very short timeframe in order to illicit the correct response from another person. We were doing impersonations of everything from Batman to cheerleaders to pigeons. If we were awarding prizes that night, the blue ribbon would have gone to one of our teenage grandsons. He did a great imitation of a jellyfish. My description doesn’t do it justice, but try to picture someone acting as if he were slightly tilted, floating, and bobbing like one of those sea creatures.

What are people reminded of when they see us and our daily lives? I am not talking about when we are playing a game or when we are putting on a show for others. I am referring to when we are authentically ourselves, going about our everyday business of life. Who do we look like? What kind of qualities show forth in our lives and character?

The Bible indicates that we should imitate Jesus. Paul put forth himself as an example: “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (I Corinthians 11:1). In another letter, he wrote: “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us” (Ephesians 5:1-2). He also exhorted: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5), where he goes on to extol Jesus’ humility and obedience. However, this wasn’t just a Pauline idea. John writes: “He who says he abides in Him (Christ) ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (I John 2:6). Even Jesus Himself pointed His disciples in that direction as He told them to humbly serve and wash others’ feet as He had done, as well as to love others as He had loved them (John 13:14. 34). The Bible makes it clear that followers of Jesus should be becoming more like Him, being transformed more and more into His image.

However, such a transformation doesn’t come solely from imitation. Yes, we should be seeking to be like Jesus in our words, actions, and attitudes. We should consider what would be a Christlike response to the situations we face. We should make choices based on what we believe Jesus would do. We can actively and intentionally seek to follow the example of Jesus.

Nevertheless, our progression into Christlikeness should go deeper than our efforts to mimic Jesus. It needs to spring from the reality of the Spirit of Jesus Himself dwelling within us and actively working in our lives. It shouldn’t just be me trying to be like Jesus. We should experience Jesus living in and through us. Paul described it well in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Imitation has its limitations. If imitation is the extent of our Christlikeness, it will often fall short and be skewed due to our faulty understanding and abilities. But if we are living surrendered to Jesus and letting Him manifest Himself through us, we will find ourselves better and more consistently reflecting the real image of our Savior.

Imitate Jesus. But better yet, let Him live in you and through you.