My husband and I have spent a lot of time recently contemplating what it means to be "Christ like" and what that involves in terms of reaching others.
After several long drives discussing Christ and His Word, we realized that Christ really was all about other people.
If one views the life of Christ, he will find that Christ rarely isolated Himself from others. Where ever He went, He was touching someone - usually those considered to be unworthy or unclean. He could not help but attract others to Him and had no desire to stop them from coming.
Yes, He was God incarnate. Based on that alone, people could not resist running to Him.
Still, it went beyond Christ being divine and extended to the heart of His example: that God loves His creation and longs to reach everyone with that love.
He showed compassion for the unsavory because He cared for them. He reached out to the broken because they were the ones who needed healing. He loved the unlovely because He saw past the exterior, that which is easily judged by man, and saw a hurting, lost soul that needed life.
As Christians, one of our ultimate goals is to reflect Christ in everything we do. We are taught to be as Christ-like as is humanly possible, yet it is so difficult when we consider the fact that we are human and, being such, we have to deal with some very human tendencies (e.g. judging others, closing ourselves off from other, etc.).
Nonetheless, we cannot use our humanity as an excuse to act in a way that is out of accordance with Christ's nature.
This means making ourselves available to touch other people; it means getting uncomfortable and stepping out; it really means reaching out to those that may not rank at the top of our list.
One way to do this is to ask God for His eyes and ears. If we can see and hear like Christ, we will be amazed at how much easier it is to be like Him. And we will be amazed at how our perspective changes.
Suddenly, we will find that people are more than their facades. We will discover the beauty and complexity of those we come in contact with and have a greater sensitivity toward them.
Suddenly, the world will not seem such a dark, scary place. Instead, it will become a place where the possibilities are endless and where our God's power to affect our circumstances and to affect change in the earth is limitless.
With that change in perspective, nothing can stop us from doing God's will.
I pray that God can do a greater work in me so that I can be more like Him. It is a fearful thing to ask for, because, with it, comes the requirement to do what He commands: reach others with His life. It challenges me at my very core to not be person who complains and judges, but to be someone who really loves the way that Christ loves.
My hope is that I will be able to meet that challenge and align myself to Christ's example.
Lord, make me more like you!
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So true and good! The thing that amazes me about Jesus is that He emptied Himself of the divine, totally surrendered (Phil. 2). He lived the perfect life, but the Bible says he was tempted as we all are and yet overcame. By surrendering more and more, day after day, we become like Him through the very act of surrender and then through our actions and love. The world certainly needs Jesus, but who's going to show Him?
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
Christ does not exist. Christianity, like most other religions, is a cult and you are an idiot for believing it it. Stop forcing your beliefs on others. Religious zealot! You probably don't even believe in things that can actually be proven. I hate people like you.
ReplyDeleteI would be curious when the last time you tried to reach someone was? Christians like yourself are all talk and no action. You say one thing but do another. Your only fooling yourself, don't try and say I am not right!
ReplyDeleteNow answer the question?
When was the last time you reached out to someone?
That's what I thought!
As a Christian, I am striving to touch those around me. This means living like Christ and doing my best to reflect Him in all that I do. I do not claim to be perfect nor do I suppose that I am doing everything right; however, I do my best to treat people with the same love and respect that Christ has shown me.
ReplyDeleteThis means that I do my best to help those in need, that I listen without judging, that I reach out to those who are broken hearted.
I may not always get it right, but I do try to practice what I preach.
The purpose of this blog is to challenge myself and others to be the kind of people that really touch something here on earth. These are things that God has been speaking to me and, as I write them here, I try to apply them to real life. I challenege any that claim to be Christian to do the same.