Living a Christlike Life

What does it mean to be Christlike?

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In order to understand what it is to be Christlike, we must first understand what true servant hood looks like.

Look at waitress in a restaurant. She get’s paid minimum wage, sometimes less than that. She does make tips but that is largely dependent on the customers she serves.

One night she is serving a couple that is not having a good time, and they take it out on her. Everything she does seems to irritate them, their food isn’t “cooked right,” and they speak harshly to her when the kitchen is slow with their food.

things get so bad she has to go to the cleaning closet and cry for a while. Now her face is a mess, makeup smeared everywhere. It’s humiliating so she goes to clean herself up. when she returns to check on the couple, they explode and demand to know where she was for so long.

To finish the night with a bang, the couple finishes their food and then demands that they be given it for free because of how horrible the service was, and they refuse to tip.

Our waitress has now endured 3 hours of verbal and emotional abuse for $10 an hour with no tip.

She could have complained, spoken harshly to this couple, or even refused to serve them, but she refrained and served them politely choosing to ignore how they treated her. She showed love regardless of the fact that she was an emotional wreck because of how this couple treated her.

To be Christlike is to be a servant, putting others needs and wants above our own and loving them regardless of how they act.

Philippians 2:1–11 ESV

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

As Christians, being Christlike isn’t something to keep to ourselves. We should be living like Christ in every interaction with every person we speak to or pass on the street.

To Demonstrate Christlikeness is...

Costly Service...

Philippians 4:8 ESV

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8 ESV

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 2:8 ESV

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus performed a service that Cost the ultimate price… His life on the cross

Christlikeness means giving up our comforts and security for what God would have for us, where God would move us to, what service he would have us perform, or what he would have us give or give up.

Humility and Service...

Philippians 2:4–5 ESV

4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

In Jesus said to the disciples, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

Our needs and wants should fall second to those around us.

This concept is much harder to embrace genuinely than we might think. Giving of our time, and money is one thing. We’ll always make more money, and we can always shift our schedules around. What happen’s when God asks us to give that which is of personal value to us.

A pair of shoes that is one of a kind to a homeless person in need, or even that expensive Parka on our backs in the winter.

Things that are contextualized, physical possessions are often much more difficult to give than those things that are immaterial or even financial.

Readiness to Forgive others

Colossians 3:13 ESV

bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

As hard as it may be sometimes, Forgiveness is always the best course of action, even when anger and sadness fill our hearts

By refusing to forgive, we not only push away or damage any future relationship that we could have had with the offending party, but we also weigh our own hearts down with feelings that are unhealthy and unnecessary.

Forgiveness leads to love. And love has the ability to heal all wounds. Yes there may be scars left but the wound would be closed.

If I were to be stabbed with a knife, would I not want to pull it out and stitch it up? It’s going to hurt a lot, but wouldn’t it be better to pull out the knife and stitch the wound being left with a scar than it would to leave the knife there to cause more damage?

love and forgiveness can be difficult when we have been hurt badly by someone. but it is much better to heal the wound with forgiveness and love than to let it fester and rot.

Becoming Christlike is a Journey

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Philippians 3:20–21 ESV

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Christlikeness is something that we must strive for

As human beings, we are naturally not Christlike. Our lives are busy and we get caught up in worldy desires and the things that are constantly begging for our attention.

That makes it difficult for us to consciously put Christ on center stage and attempt to be like Him.

As Christians, becoming Christlike is much like sanctification. Yes we are Sanctified in Christ, but that sanctification is a process that is a continuous journey until we meet God in heaven someday.

Becoming Christlike is a never ending process because we could never hope to be perfect in Jesus Image. If we could, Jesus wouldn’t have had to die for our sins.

Every Choice, good and bad, contributes to our journey to becoming Christlike. Every failing, every success, every relationship and interaction… It all comes together to make a painting of what our lives are.

Bryce Edelman said once, the thing he is really good at is messing up. Not because he messes up all the time, but because whenever he does mess up, he learns a valuable lesson.

We learn from our successes and our failures, and learning to live a Christlike life is no different.

To Succeed, all we have to do is take one step at a time, and do our best to strive towards embodying the virtues that Jesus demonstrated during His time on earth.

One step at a time is all we can ask of ourselves and of others, and God’s love and grace is enough that he knows that.

He sent His son to die for us after all, if he was willing to do that for us because he loves us, we can believe that God will be with us throughout the journey of striving for Christlikeness and sanctification in Him.

He is in every decision we make and can guide us toward the end goal as long as we listen for His guidance and act accordingly