Whoever says, “I know Him,” but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys His word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did.
-1 John 2:4-6 (NIV)
If we’re wholeheartedly walking with Jesus, connected to the Vine, we should look and sound like Him, reflecting the very nature of who He is. We should be the living hands and feet, vessels of the living God.
Becoming like Him is the natural result of a life laid down.
When I asked the Lord why so many Christians are lacking His Fruit in their lives and actually look like Jesus, the words I heard in response were sobering.
He said, “Because they don’t want to fully give up their ways for Mine. Many cling to feelings and the past, living with an internal war between My ways and what feels right to them. They don’t comprehend the freedom that will come with the willingness to lay it all down.”
Friend,
If we look in the mirror and don’t see Christ forming in us — we’re missing it. The goal is to go from glory to glory and become like Him.
This is true freedom.
To walk as He walked.
He didn’t just put His Spirit in us because it sounds powerful. Jesus paid for us to be reconciled to our original design, made in His image, to look like our Father in Heaven. This empowerment of His Spirit goes beyond signs and wonders — His Spirit carries the life-changing power for us to become like Him.
To walk this new life out, we have to be willing to take an honest look at the areas in our lives where we’ve been clinging to our ways, our “rights,” our feelings, the past, and everything in between.
This is what Jesus whispered to my heart to share with you.
He said, “I will heal your heart and all that the enemy stole, but you need to remain steadfast in Me, in My ways, and be willing to give up your rights — the right that pulls you to withhold all that I’ve asked you to give up. You limit what I can do in and through you when you hold onto hurts, offenses, and all the feelings attached to what you’ve been through. I have given you new life, an abundant life, but you won’t discover it until you give up yours in exchange for Mine.“
Let’s get back to the heart of the Father.
It’s time to lay down our lives and wholeheartedly pick up His.
Pray with me:
Father, show me the strongholds in my mind that prevent me from becoming more like you. Holy Spirit, speak to my heart and reveal the areas I’ve been unwilling to lay down. I’m coming to You today and asking for eyes to see and ears to hear. Forgive me for withholding parts of myself when You held nothing back and gave up what was most precious to You — Your beloved Son, so that You could redeem and restore what was lost in the garden — made in Your image; my identity in You. I’m asking You to come and make Your home in me, mold me, and shape me into a living vessel of Your Spirit — so I can walk as You walk, see how You see, and love the way You do, bringing glory to You in every way. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.
