And they all sang, “I just want to be like Jesus.” It was a glorious thing to sing, and I believe everyone was truly sincere. Yet I’m certain if we want to live like Jesus, we’ve actually got to know something about Him — more than only what we’re told from the pulpit on Sunday. We’ve got to dig into our Bible to read, and we’ve got to pray and be involved with God to know His attributes, preferences, and standards in order to actually live like Jesus. If you think it’s impossible to live like that, let me assure you that if you’ll try, God will meet you on that path and empower you to live as you’ve only sung about and wished over. Besides, i really don’t believe God would ask us to live in a way that, with His help, would be impossible so we would be perpetual failures. So often we get subtle messages from Hollywood, advertising, our state and federal government, and self-help gurus, that if we’ll just imitate highly respected, highly motivated role models, we’ll get life back in good working order. It’s like telling people that some form of good works will get us living the high life, and nothing could be further from the truth. We’re told that saying right prayers and making sure to end our prayers with some magic words will do the trick.

When I was a new believer, a man told me that if I didn’t end my prayer saying, “In the name of Jesus,” God wouldn’t hear me, nor could He hear me. That’s foolishness. We’re told if we do the right things, long enough and loud enough, that we will somehow meet the qualifications of being a good person, God will approve of us, and that will be sufficient — implying if we try hard enough it will be good enough. That is like saying, “If you think like this and act like this, you’ll be acceptable and then, yes, then you’ll be ok.” Again, that’s foolishness. That’s not what God said at all, and we would understand that better if we’d read our Bible. We’re told if we’ll “just do the rules,” keeping these high days, and eating certain foods, saying those special words in a special way, and using the more technically correct names of God and other characters in the Bible, it will be enough to live the life of Christ, or that somehow it gives us an extra-special connection with God. Trully, that’s foolishness. Galatians 3:21, “For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.” And it’s not. No amount of good works or religious deeds or ceremonies can ever save anyone. If grace did not come by Jesus Christ then grace did not come at all. No one can earn salvation, and yet it’s available to everyone — not because we went and got it, but because Jesus came and gave it.

We are told that if we’ll merely change our behavior, supplying all our own effort, life will change. While that may be a little true for a short while, really, it’s nothing lasting. God says He Himself will give us the power to change, and it’s not just change He’s after but a complete metamorphosis, a total transformation. We can’t rescue ourselves… power for salvation and transformation come from God alone. Bottom line… if God doesn’t give it, we don’t get it. I believe too many are spinning their wheels trying to transform themselves into some semblance of Jesus, but it never really sticks because without the power of the blood of Jesus in our lives, our inclination is to always revert back to our original state of godlessness. We don’t sculpt God into our lives — He sculpts us into His, and we need to let the Lord do His work in us.

The power to change is from God living in us, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit living in us, and that power comes from Him, not from within ourselves. It is totally His work and nothing we, by any means, can take credit for. We live like Jesus by worship, and that means not by simply lifting our hands and dancing around, but in how we lead our lives, how we present ourselves, as seen most evidently in our conversation, conduct, and character. Graham Cooke said, “Maturity isn’t getting better at keeping rules. Maturity is His nature becoming your lifestyle. Rules stand over you. His nature lives in you.”

That is worship — it’s when you adore someone so much, you emulate all things about them.

We live like Jesus by prayer. Philippians 4:5-6 reads, “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Prayer means giving Him all our words and is integral to the cultivation of our relationship with the Lord, and honestly, we won’t get far without it.

We live like Jesus by studying our Bible, and that means doing more than merely reading the words. Catch the narratives and themes. Pay attention to how God uses grammar. Jesus knew — He knew the Scriptures. In fact, He was and is the Scriptures. He used the words of Scripture to resist temptation and said in Luke 4:4 that we don’t live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God. To live a spiritually upright life requires that we get spiritually upright nourishment.

We live like Jesus by connecting with the Body of Christ. I’m not necessarily saying attend a brick-and-mortar facility. I’m more saying we have to connect — position ourselves to have deep and meaningful dialogue with people who are honest and transparent. I believe we learn from those interactions about how to express ourselves, how to employ our giftings, and how to appreciate others who may have gifts different from our own. For all our criticism of the church, God loves the church and created the entire concept for more than just preaching the gospel — He created it to help us grow. Want to live like Jesus? Choose to be patient, to be considerate, extending yourself to others. Come on, be kind. It should be no great thing to be kind. Take time and make time to pray. Read your Bible. Jesus has a lot to say about our conversation, conduct, and character. The Lord our God is the one who created man in His own image. We were designed not only to look like His image but also to reflect His heart. He’s the only one who can finish His work in us — not just for change, but for transformation.

Let the old “no” fall silent under the weight of His yes. Let the blood outrun the flesh. Let the Spirit that raised Him from the grave rise also in us, until the song we once only sang begins to walk and breathe and live.

What do you think?

Thanks for listening. i’m Social Porter with Living In His Name ministries