To Be Like Jesus

In August 2017, I wrote a blog entitled “Are You Jesus?” and in the blog I share a true story from Matthew Kelly’s book “Rediscover Jesus.” It is a story about a Christian named Paul who stopped to help a blind lady whose fruit stand had been knocked over. He got down on his hands and knees to help the lady replace all the fruit that had been scattered on the ground. After giving the woman some money to cover the damages, he turned and began to walk away. “Mister,” the woman called after him. Paul paused and turned around. “Are you Jesus?” Oh, no,” he replied. The woman nodded and continued, “I only ask because I prayed for Jesus to help me as I heard my fruit falling all over the sidewalk.” Paul turned to leave again, and his eyes began to fill with tears. What an inspiring story. I encourage you to read or listen to the blog to hear the whole the story and the teaching on “Are You Jesus?”

The famous Hindu and moral leader Mahatma Gandhi read and believed in the teachings of Jesus. Gandhi wrote that he felt Jesus was “one of the great teachers of mankind.” In an interview with Dr. J.H. Holmes, Gandhi said “I believe in the teachings of Christ, but you on the other side of the world do not. I read the Bible faithfully and see little in Christendom that those who profess faith pretend to see.” Gandhi also wrote “If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today.” Later in his life, the missionary Stanley Jones asked Ghandi why he had not become a Christian. Ghandi replied, “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.” Perhaps, if Gandhi had met some Christians like Paul in the previous paragraph, his testimony and the history of India would have been quite different than it is today.

“If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible,
all of India would be Christian today.” Mahatma Gandhi

 “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.” Mahatma Gandhi

 St. Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:1 to “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” Imitating Jesus was Paul’s goal and we are instructed to imitate Jesus. What does it mean to “imitate?” The dictionary defines “imitate” as to copy, to duplicate, to mimic, to replicate, and to emulate. To imitate Jesus is to copy Jesus, to mimic Jesus, to replicate Jesus, and to emulate Jesus. In other words, we are to think like Jesus, talk like Jesus, act like Jesus, and have a heart like Jesus.

“Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1

I highly recommend Max Lucado’s classic book “Just Like Jesus.” Max opens his book with a chapter entitled “A Heart Like His” and he poses a question, “What if, for one day, Jesus were to become you?” He goes on to say, “What if, for 24 hours, Jesus wakes up in your bed, walks in your shoes, lives in your house, assumes your schedule? Your boss becomes His boss, your mother becomes His mother, your pains become His pains? With one exception, nothing about your life changes. Your health doesn’t change. Your circumstances don’t change. Your schedule isn’t altered. Your problems aren’t solved. Only one change occurs. What if for one day and one night, Jesus lives your life with his heart? Your heart gets the day off, and your life is led by the heart of Christ. His priorities govern your actions. His passions drive your decisions. His love directs your behavior. What would you be like? Would people notice? Your family, would they see something new? Your coworkers, would they sense a difference? What about the less fortunate? Would you treat them the same? And your friends? Would they see more joy? How about your enemies? Would they receive more mercy from Christ’s heart than from yours?… Would you still do what you had planned to do for the next twenty-four hours? Pause and think about your schedule. Obligations. Engagements. Outings. Appointments. With Jesus taking over your heart, would anything be different?” Max goes on to say, “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you there. He wants you to be…. just like Jesus.” It truly is the Father’s will for us to be just like Jesus.

“God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you there. He wants you to be…. just like Jesus.” Max Lucado

Listen to the words of the Holy Spirit from 1 Peter 2:21 where He says, “For as a believer you have been called for this purpose, since Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you may follow in His footsteps.” To follow in Jesus’ footsteps means to do the “same” things as Jesus. It means to walk and talk like Jesus. In 1 John 2:6, the Holy Spirit instructs us by saying, “Whoever says he has accepted Him as God and Savior ought to walk and conduct himself just as He walked and conducted Himself.” If we have received Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we need to walk and behave just like Him.

“For as a believer you have been called for this purpose, since Christ suffered for you,
leaving you an example, so that you may follow in His footsteps.” 1 Peter 2:21

“Whoever says he has accepted Him as God and Savior ought to walk and
conduct himself just as He walked and conducted Himself.” 1 John 2:6

Can you imagine what life would be like if we made a conscious and deliberate effort every moment of each day to think like Jesus, talk like Jesus, act like Jesus, and have a heart like Jesus? Can you imagine comparing a thought that came into your mind with what Jesus would think about that thought? Can you imagine hesitating for a second or two before you speak to be sure this is how Jesus would speak or what Jesus would say? Can you imagine asking yourself “What would Jesus do?” before making a decision or reacting to an invitation or provocation? Can you imagine having the heart of Jesus expressing His love, mercy, and compassion toward your family members, friends, fellow-workers, boss, fellow-students, neighbors, and enemies?

What the world, our world, needs is to “see Jesus.” In John 12:21, we read about some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. Here are the words of that verse, “They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Preaching and sharing the Good News of the Gospel is important, but our “lives” speak louder than our words. Like Mahatma Gandhi, the world and our world needs to “see” Jesus in the way we talk and in the way we behave. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:14 that we are His light to the world where He says, “You are the light of Christ to the world.” St. Francis is often quoted as saying, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” The likeness of Jesus in our lives is a saving light to the world. We are the lighthouse that God uses to bring people into the saving grace of His Son Jesus.

“They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request.
“Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” John 12:21

“You are the light of Christ to the world.” Matthew 5:14

“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” St Francis

In 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, we hear St. Paul speaking to the Christians in the city of Corinth where he says, “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Holy Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” To be like Jesus is to be “an epistle of Christ.” Our lives are to be an open “letter” for all to read and get to know the real Jesus. This “letter” is written in our hearts by the Holy Spirit when we make a conscious and deliberate effort every moment of each day to think like Jesus, talk like Jesus, act like Jesus, and have a heart like Jesus.

“You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ,
ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Holy Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone
but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” 2 Corinthians 3:2-3

Let me close by reading, rather praying, the words of a song written by Henry Slaughter and Gloria Gaither in 1971:

To be like Jesus, To be like Jesus!
All I ask – is to be like Him!
All through life’s journey,
From earth to glory,
All I ask – is to be like Him.

To be like Jesus, To be like Jesus!
How I long to be like Him,
So meek and lowly, So pure and holy;
How I long to be like Him.

Let us pray:

Dear Heavenly Father,
It is my sincere desire to be more like Jesus in what I think, in what I say, and in what I do. Please forgive me for the many ways in which I have failed to be like Jesus to my family, friends, and those You have brought into my life. Teach me, Father, how to be more like Jesus, and give me the grace to walk in His steps. Help me to have a heart like Jesus, full of love, mercy, and compassion, toward everyone I meet. I want to be Your “lighthouse” to help others find their way to You through Your Son Jesus. Help me to be Jesus to my world. Graciously grant my prayer, for I ask it of You in the holy, mighty, and precious name of Jesus, Your son, my Savior, and Lord. Amen.

© 2020 Richard A. MacKinnon, All Rights Reserved