Session Five . Becoming more Christ-like.
Becoming More Christ-Like
The Christian life is more than knowing our Soul is Saved, it has to be about growing up "into mature people, and the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). To stop growing is to stop living as a Christian. No matter what you have already become in the grace of God, there is more to come. That is why the Christian life is often described as a journey. From a Browning poem;
"Grow old with me! The best is yet to be"
Robert Browning
This continual process of growth will not always be easy. There will be times of real struggle spiritual attack and suffering which you must pass through. We looked at that in our last Soul Savers session. This session is about ‘Becoming more Christ-like.’
There will things about your life or your character now which will need to be brought into harmony with Jesus Christ. Maybe ethical issues, maybe racial attitudes, maybe environmental matters. Perhaps personal holiness is the area of your life our Lord will put his finger on. These matters become clearer as your understanding of God's will and purposes for your life develop.
Corrie Ten Boon survived the Holocaust, but her family did not. They were Dutch Christians caught by the Nazis for hiding Jews in their home. She watched the horrors of the genocide from Auschwitz and barely survived herself. Following the war, she became famous for her book "The Hiding Place," which shared the story of her family. She embarked on speaking engagements sharing her faith with thousands of people. One night she spoke about the reality of Christ forgiving us. Afterwards, a man came forward to speak to her. She recognised him as a guard from Auschwitz. She instinctively felt the pain and hatred from the horror of years of persecution.
He said he had been moved by her talk on forgiveness and, in tears, he asked if he might receive the forgiveness of Christ that she had spoken about. Instinctively, she could not offer him forgiveness. Immediately, the Lord put his finger on something which was preventing her from becoming more ‘Christ-Like.’ She remembered the command of Christ to love your enemy and to forgive seventy times seven the person who has wronged you (Matthew 18:22). As Corrie Ten Boon prayed that Jesus would give her the strength to forgive the man, she felt a sensation begin in her heart and flow through her hand as it touched his. Then she heard herself saying,
"In the name of Jesus Christ, I forgive you."
The man fell at her feet and wept a prayer of thanks. Jesus Christ was continuing to transform Corrie Ten Boon to be Christ-Like through adversity and through shining his light on those dark areas of her life which were not pleasing to him.
At this point in your Christian journey, you may still be holding something against someone or you may be bitter about some injustice that happened to you. You may be stealing time or stationary from your employer. You may be careless about environmental issues. You may be liberal in your attitudes to sex, alcohol or drugs. As you mature as a Christian the Holy Spirit will shine his light on these areas of darkness. Old habits may have to be broken, new disciplines will become a part of you and some of those attitudes may need changing. The Holy Spirit will develop in you certain traits or ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ which transform us to being more ‘Christ-like.’ Things that need to be added to your faith such as goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness and love (2 Peter 1:5-7).
The Holy Spirit will also show you that you need to be filled and overflowing with the Holy Spirit in order to effectively serve God. That is what is called being ‘empowered’ to serve.
The secret of this ‘Christ-transforming life’ in you is to walk in the light, and draw near to Him. Pray for the empowering of the Holy Spirit and any gifts of the Spirit He chooses to give you. Follow Jesus all the way. He is Lord of your life. This will mean a daily denial of ‘self’ in loving submission to His Lordship.
God has great things in store for you. Never get discouraged if it all seems to be happening at a snail’s pace or you are learning so slowly, two steps forward and one step back. God will lead you on as fast as you can go. He intends someday "to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy" (Jude 24).
So as Bob Dylan once put it, keep ‘pressing on to the higher calling of my Lord.’ He was, of course, referring to Philippians 3:14:
"I press on towards the goal to win the prize
for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus"
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Session 1: Good news, read all about it!
Session 2: Jesus Christ, what a friend.
Session 3: Eternal Life, fact or fiction?
Session 4: Under Atack
Session 5: Becoming more Christ like.
Session 6: Good Christian Habits.
Session 7: Telling others
On with Session Five… same format…. I ask the questions ….you ‘Click and collect’ the answers from the bible. You can use the form below or download the questions to search. All the best.
