2 Co. 5: 17, 18. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.

         After receiving Jesus into our hearts then we become new and the things that interest God are the things that become important to us, or should be. It seems as though this doesnʼt seem to be true. All too often I see Christians trying to form Jesus into the kind of people they are rather than being transformed into His image. We seem to hold onto unforgiveness and bitterness or hatred and division or just plain stubbornness when all these things are contrary to the Lord.
 
         This Scripture tells me that our old ways are passed away and that we become new. It goes on to say that all things are of God and that He reconciled us through His Son, and that we now have a new ministry of living as a new creation in Christ showing the love of the Father by our transformation. I wonder if this transformation is being seen by the people we come in contact with everyday, or do we bury the Spirit of Christ in the way that we act not allowing our new man to be seen. If the latter is true then we are fooling ourselves to say that we have become Christians.

          All things have become new and that means that I should no longer live for my wants or in my ways. My life has been transformed and Jesus is my Lord and learning to put Him first in all His ways are what should be driving me. I need to become more like Christ rather than to have Christ become more like me. Do I really want to have Christ Spirit being grieved because of my disobedience to Him when He tells me to forgive, or turn the other cheek? When He says that vengeance is His and He will repay, do I leave it in His hands or do I take matters into my own hands. Do I overcome evil with good or do I return evil for evil? Do I trust Jesus or not. Do I really want to be more like Him? I think we need to be careful when we make statements that suggest we allow our old man to come back. The truth is that since we are now new creatures in Christ there is no longer an old man because he has passed away. I don’t want to be the person I was prior to coming to Christ. I want to be more like Christ and the way I do that is to be obedient to His word, to listen to that inner voice when it tells me right from wrong. I want to follow Jesus and copy His actions and let Him be in control.

         When I think of the characteristics of Jesus I can’t think of any that are negative.. He’s loving and forgiving, He shows mercy and grace. He demonstrates a character that truly cares for people whether He knows them or not. He wants all people to be His friend. He cares for everyone in such a way that He gave His life for all of us. I can’t think of anything that Jesus did that didn’t prove His total devotion to us. So I ask the question, are we trying to change Jesus into who we are or are we being changed into His likeness? I would like to be more like Christ and that means laying down my pride and arrogance and submitting to Jesus.

          If my old man is dead and I have found a new life in Christ then I must change to the life that He led. It’s kind of funny when people say that they want to be like Christ when in reality they, (by their actions) show that they want nothing to do with the interests of Christ. I want to be like Christ and that means I have to learn who and what my Lord stood for and how He behaved.. I need to ask Him to show me and teach me how to be more like Him. And in reality we know that Christ gave to others even at His own suffering. If we find ourselves doing anything that is contrary to the teachings of Jesus then we must repent and discipline our lives so that we no longer continue in behavior that is against His loving mercy. Our hearts will tell us when we’re in wrong behavior and it is at that point that we should stop and reflect and pray for self control. I do not want to say I’m a Christian when I am still the same person I was before coming to Christ. There must be a change in my being and that change is to be more like Christ. If Christ wouldn’t do it then neither should I. Becoming a Christian is saying that I am a follower of Jesus, so in my opinion we need to follow Christ. I don’t want to stay the same as I was before and I definitely don’t want Jesus to be in me with no proof of a change of becoming more like Him. If I am a follower of the Master Jesus that makes me His student, I become His disciple, and I should make every effort to follow Him wherever He may lead me.

          I don’t want Jesus to be like me, I want me to die and be passed away with, and I want Jesus to take over and be my Master. I want to follow Christ no matter how or what my flesh may feel.

My prayer is that every Christian will read their word and learn to be more like Christ. God bless, (Bud)
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