Text: Ephesians 4:17-5:1
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” —Ephesians 5:1
Last week I led a mission team to the Dominican Republic. In addition to working with orphans and Haitian migrant children, we facilitated community-wide baseball outreach in the Barahona region. Seeing young Dominican boys and girls play baseball is truly a thing of beauty—especially for those of us who love coaching the game.
It’s no secret why the Dominican Republic sends more players to MLB than any other country outside of the U.S.—they have a passion (also described as fanaticism) for baseball. That love for the game is not only seen in the way the children train at such young ages to play with the right mechanics and fundamentals, but also in the way the kids study every motion and emulate the very likeness of the professional players they idolize.
These kids put a tremendous amount of effort in studying and imitating their big league heroes. They work very hard to be like someone they revere. Imagine if every believer had that kind of passion in becoming more like Jesus.
There’s so much more to being a Christian than just saying, “I’m saved,” or “I’m forgiven,” or “I’m going to heaven.” God’s redemptive purpose in our lives has to do with an ongoing work of transformation that we would become more like Christ in all that we think, say, and do (Romans 8:29). The aim is that Christ would be formed in our hearts (Galatians 4:19). This sanctification process is to make us more “Christ-like,” that our lives would emulate His nature here on earth as it is in heaven. Christlikeness doesn’t happen overnight; it entails an ongoing work of dying to self and giving up our own rights each day.
Laying down our pride in relationships is critical to becoming more like Jesus (Philippians 2:3-4). It takes humility to be willing to lose the argument so that you might win the person, keep no record of wrongs when you have a legitimate reason to be angry, or serve others without needing anything in return. But too often instead of taking our pride to Christ, we hold on to it. As A.W. Tozer wrote: “Paul was willing to be crucified with Christ, but in our day we want to die a piece at a time, so we can rescue little parts of ourselves from the cross.”
Dying to self and becoming more like Christ is no easy work; it takes supernatural aid. That’s why God sufficiently graced us with the Holy Spirit as our teacher and divine coach. The Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses (Romans 8:26-27), guides us to the cross to die daily (1 Corinthians 15:31), and brings to life the kinds of fruit that we could never produce on our own (Galatians 5:22-24). This is a result of God’s continual work in us as we surrender ourselves to His Lordship.
It takes passion and humility to emulate our risen Hero. For our lives to reveal more of Christ’s DNA on earth as it is in heaven, it will require passion to follow Him wholeheartedly, and humility to lay down our own agenda for something bigger than ourselves. The more we study Him, the more we want to be like Him and the more we strive to emulate Him. Think about that as you seek to abide in Him this week.
PRAYER
Gracious Father, thank you for loving me when I was unlovable. Christ laid down His life for my sins and paid the price for my ransom, saving me though I was undeserving of that rescue mission. You have given me new life and predestined me to be conformed to the image of Your Son. I yield my heart to the work of the Holy Spirit to continue Your work of transformation in me. Teach me how to emulate Christ-likeness through passionate devotion and humble submission. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Questions for Reflection and/or Family Discussion:
- When you were a child, who did you emulate the most?
- In what way does God want Christians to change? (Ephesians 4:22-24)
- How are Christians to imitate God, and why is that important? (Ephesians 5:1-2)
- In what ways does pride keep us from looking like Jesus?
- What evidence do you see that the Holy Spirit controls your life?
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