Be Christlike

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Be Christlike

God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness. —Genesis 1:26

When God said, "Let Us make man in Our image," this image refers to character likeness. He meant that we were going to take on His nature, His character, as reflected in His Son Jesus. In Colossians 1:15, Paul tells us that Jesus is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation. As believers, we are to be transformed into His image and likeness.

The greatest goal of every believer, and certainly those of us who want to be used by God in positions of leadership, should be Christlikeness. We should want to handle situations and treat people the way Jesus would. We should want to do things the way He would do them. That should be our goal. Jesus is to be our example.

In John 13:15 He said to His disciples, after washing their feet like a servant, "For I have given you this as an example, so that you should do [in your turn] what I have done to you." And Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2:21, "For even to this were you called [it is inseparable from your vocation]. For Christ also suffered for you, leaving you [His personal] example, so that you should follow in His footsteps." The vocation, the high calling of every believer, is to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

God is going to keep working with each of us until we get to the place where we act the way Jesus would act in every situation of life, until we manifest the same kind of fruit of the Spirit that He manifested.

From the book New Day, New You: 365 Devotions for Enjoying Everyday Life by Joyce Meyer.