#278: Becoming More Like Jesus

The 5 Minute Discipleship Podcast

On a wall near the main entrance to the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, is a portrait with the following inscription: "James Butler Bonham--no picture of him exists. This portrait is of his nephew, Major James Bonham, deceased, who greatly resembled his uncle. It is placed here by the family that people may know the appearance of the man who died for freedom."

Today there are no literal photographs of Jesus. The technology did not exist in the first century. But, while we don’t know what his physical appearance looked like, the likeness of Jesus can be seen in the lives of His true followers.

This is the goal of the Christian life. We are to be like Jesus. We are to live as he did in character, integrity, godliness, and mission. When people spend time with us, there should be a noticeable difference from the unbelieving world. Christians do not live by the values of the world, we live by the values of scripture.

How would it impact your life if you prayed each morning, “Jesus, help me to be more like you today?”

1 John 2:6 - “Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.”

All of us tonight are works-in-progress. We are not finished. We are not glorified. We are not perfect. We are not completed. We are all under construction. Construction sites are noisy and messy. Is your life noisy and messy? Sometimes it’s hard to image what the final outcome will be.

We are responsible though, to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. God’s work in our lives is usually a steady, lifelong progress toward godliness. But we are responsible to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness.

1 Timothy 4:7 – “Train yourself to be godly.” It’s not just praying and asking God to change us. It’s yielding to the what the Spirit of God is saying to us. You have to participate with God. You have to work at it!

As you consider what it means to be more like Jesus, here are some things that are important to know…

•It will not happen by accident

•It does not happen overnight

•It cannot happen without us cooperating with the Holy Spirit

•It happens when we make personal commitments

•It happens with the godly encouragement of other Christians (the right friends make it easier for you to grow in the Lord and the wrong friends make it much harder)

•It happens as we become what God made us to be

Sometimes as Christians we struggle with the idea of God’s will for our lives. We ask, “How can we know God’s will?” The scripture is clear that it is God’s will for you to be like Jesus.

Romans 8:29 - “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”

My wife and I recently visited the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina. Billy and his wife Ruth are buried on the property. On Ruth Graham’s grave are etched these words: End of construction. Thank you for your patience.”

You and I will be under construction until we meet the Lord. He is patiently at work in each of our lives to make us like Jesus.

God has promised that the work he has begun in us will be completed. Let’s walk in step with Jesus everyday and become more like him.

Today’s Challenge: Let’s decide to cooperate with the Holy Spirit