Be Like Jesus

UV 1465-10,000 Be Like Jesus

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
Ephesians 5 v 1

The simple short word “be” from which our species derives our name “human being” means to think, imagine, visualise, feel, act and react. As followers of God and of Jesus, His Son and as children of God, we are to be like Jesus, our elder sibling. We have to think like Him. He taught us and showed us to be simple, to be gentle, to be humble, to be forgiving, to be kind, to be compassionate, to be loving, to be wise, to be faithful, to be truthful, to be great, to be disciplined, to be effective, to be shrewd, to be problem-solvers, to be trustworthy, to be obedient, to be submissive, to be talent multipliers, to be resourceful, to be servants of the greatest number, to be contented, to be diligent, to be persevering, to be unselfish, to be sincere, to be pure. In short, to be perfect. Each of these attributes have to be thought upon, adopted, imagined, visualised, felt, acted upon and reacted with.

We have been adopted by God and now it is our turn to adopt the nature of God. This is the way we can offer true and acceptable worship and show our gratitude towards the grace of God. Jesus lead a highly reflective life. We too should constantly reflect and introspect. We should allow the Holy Spirit to point out the areas of our character, our attitudes and our habits that we need to change. We should pray for grace and power to be like Jesus in our thoughts, words, desires and actions.

Jesus’s life on earth was like an arrow head made of flint stone. He travelled quickly to fulfil the purpose and mission of His life: the salvation of humanity. He did not allow adversity to upset His mind or His plan. He walked with supreme confidence and assurance towards the cross. We too should imitate Jesus in His single-mindedness and devotion. The disciples became like Jesus as they spent time with Him both before and after His crucifixion. We too should spend time with Him, learning at His feet and putting into practice the things we learn from Him. Our lives may not be long enough to do all the things we want to do but it is long enough for us to be like Jesus. We should learn to listen like Jesus, understand like Him and communicate like Him. One principle we can follow is to listen one third of the time, try to understand one third of the time and communicate another third. This will make us powerful and effective communicators like Jesus.

Prateep V Philip