Everyone who’s been a Christian for any length of time knows that the most important goal in following Jesus is to become more like Him, to take on His nature. We call that quest becoming more Christlike. We wouldn’t dream of pursuing such a quest if He hadn’t been the one to suggest it. It was Jesus who prayed for us to become one with Him and His Father (John 17:21) and asked us to carry on the work He began (John 20:21).

Represent Him? Be “one” with Him? How could we ever be? He’s the plumb line, the measure of all things spiritual, the Bright and Morning Star. He’s the One who is pure and holy, undefiled and separate from sinners. He’s the One who always pleased the Father and defeated Satan, death, and hell forever by His work on the cross. He’s the only One worthy to open the scroll in heaven (Revelation 5) and the One that everyone will bow down to because He is worthy (Philippians 2).

Become like Him? Are we crazy to aspire to something so impossibly difficult? Why not just take His offer of forgiveness for our sins and rejoice in the fact that our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? Isn’t the fact that we’re on the way to heaven enough? Why beat our heads against a wall trying to achieve something we’re not likely to ever reach?

This might seem reasonable if we ignored the bulk of the New Testament. But even the most cursory read of the apostles’ letters shows that God’s plan for His children is for us to not only enter into a relationship with Him but also to participate in His divine nature (see 2 Peter 1:3-4).  In his first epistle John writes, “as He is, so are we in this world” (4:17). Paul told the Philippian believers they could “become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life” (2:14-16).

Peter quotes a passage from the Old Testament in his appeal for us to be holy. “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:14-16). Paul agrees: “God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you His Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8).

There’s no question, if we read the New Testament without a prior bias against the idea, that we can become more like Jesus. In fact, it isn’t just that we can; Scripture teaches that we ought to, we should work at becoming more like Him if we want to fulfill all of God’s good plans for us. So the next question becomes … HOW do we do that? Let me offer an illustration that I think will help us understand the process by which we take on His nature.

A few years back I had to face an uncomfortable fact about myself: My feet were no longer going to carry me unlimited distances without complaint. My bunions had progressed to the point where I could either get surgery to try to fix them or curtail walking, something I loved to do. Like many things in life, this unhappy development had a silver lining. It forced me to pursue some other activities that I had long ago given up on. Since I couldn’t walk like I used to, some friends recommended that I try swimming. It was an exercise that wouldn’t put strain on my feet or joints, and it had another benefit too: it would hopefully help strength my lungs.

I gave myself pep talks to try to inspire me to make the switch … “We have a lovely neighborhood pool just blocks from our house – how much more convenient could it be?” “Sure, it might be hard at first, but you can learn to like it!” I have to be honest. Even with the pep talks, this was a difficult transition for me.

You see, as I child I’d developed a distinct dislike for the activity. I hated how the water felt around my head, getting in my ears and up my nose and stinging my eyes. (Not to mention wrecking my hair!) I also hated the smell of chlorine, which meant I had to swim in lakes and streams among all the weeds and critters. Not fun either!  The worst problem, though, was shortness of breath. After taking only a few strokes in the water it seemed I was gasping for breath. All in all, it wasn’t an appealing prospect.

Two summers ago, when I took my first tentative steps towards giving swimming another chance, I would look at the lanes in our neighborhood pool and wonder if I could ever make it all the way to the end without stopping. Even doing that one time seemed nearly impossible. As I swam a few strokes, rested, and tried it again, I wondered how many people were noticing my sad display of athletic ability. Soon it became apparent that I would have to make a choice: Would I continue, as painful and embarrassing as it might be, or would I decide it was just too hard for me … I might as well give up?

It wasn’t a steady or straight up process. I often regressed and fell back, discouraged at my lack of progress with the exercise. But I’m glad I didn’t give up entirely. When I went to the pool earlier today I donned my goggles and jumped in without a single thought about how cold the water was or who might be watching. And I swam the whole length of the lane without stopping halfway down to catch my breath. In fact, this year I’ve been able to swim that long lane twenty times in about that many minutes – an accomplishment I know I would have deemed impossible when I started.

The process of becoming more Christlike is about as unspectacular, grueling, and embarrassing as my quest to become a swimmer. We begin by thinking it’s impossible but at some point we find we’re able to do it, maybe not perfectly but a whole better than we ever imagined we could! What is unnatural at first becomes easier with practice. When I first started learning how to do the crawl, I had to think about every move before I did it. Coordinating my arms with my legs and learning how to take a breath each time my left arm extended seemed clumsy at first, but eventually I was doing it without a lot of concentration. In time, it all became second nature, and that’s when I started to enjoy it.

Like any illustration, swimming doesn’t make a perfect analogy, of course. For in the process of becoming like Jesus we have a resource for success that isn’t available in any other area of life: the Holy Spirit. He enables us to achieve what would be impossible in our own strength. He not only gives us power to overcome our spiritual enemies and our fleshly nature but also reminds us of what Jesus taught and shows us where our attitudes and actions have become sinful, helping us repent and get back on track. He comforts us and encourages us, giving us peace and courage for whatever we face.

But learning to swim better does have this in common with becoming more Christlike: In both processes, WE have an active role to play. Effort and hard work are required, even with the help of the Holy Spirit. There are hard choices to make and a need to persevere even when we feel like giving up. God will give us everything we need to become more like His Son, but He won’t rob us of the very rewarding process of learning how to discipline our minds, hearts, and bodies. Like learning a new exercise or a new language, taking on the nature of Jesus requires a lot of practice and a willingness to seem foolish to those who may be watching us learn.

Getting back to the practical issue of HOW, we need to find a way to “train [ourselves] to be godly” as Paul mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:7. Maybe this acronym will help us: CPA.

First, we must CHOOSE whether we will reflect our new or old nature. In this circumstance or situation that I’m facing, will I choose to identify myself with Jesus? Will I act out of my relationship with Him, or will I do just what I please and gratify my sinful desires instead? This is the part that I must do all by myself. The Holy Spirit won’t make the choice for me! Just like I had to go to the pool and get in the water and give my body to the hard work of learning how to swim, so in my spiritual life I have to choose to do what is harder for me (as opposed to just responding as I’ve always done) in order to become more Christlike.

Secondly, we must PRAY for the Holy Spirit’s help in sowing to the Spirit rather than the flesh. We can’t assume we’ll have the wisdom or the power to do what is Christlike from God’s perspective. This step is critical, because if we don’t pray, we’re likely to choose what makes us feel good rather than what pleases God. In his book Hidden in Plain Sight, Mark Buchanan writes,“Learn to pray before you react. Before you phone, in a flap, your child’s teacher over some alleged mistreatment of your child, pray. Before you fly off the handle over another computer glitch, pray. … The habit of prayer will not magically arrive for you. … You’ll have to get it well in hand now, and work it into your daily rounds as patiently as petit point stitches.” Prayer will bring the help we need to be like Jesus in the situations we face every day. And only as we discipline ourselves to pray will we find that out.

Thirdly, we must ACT in obedience to His desire for us. As soon as we recognize what we should do in any given situation, we need to put it into action. It’s not enough to know what we should do … we must do it if we want to grow spiritually. This step assumes that we’re making the study of His word a priority. Otherwise, how will we know what’s the most Christlike attitude or behavior to adopt? The Holy Spirit can only remind us of what we already know from Scripture. Again, He won’t do this part for us. Taking action is our responsibility (and privilege) as God’s child. So we need to be feeding ourselves spiritually all the time … before the crisis of decision comes. Then when we are faced with a challenge, we are ready to act in a godly manner.

These CPA steps may seem artificial at first, just as my swimming strokes did. But as we practice them over time, soon they’ll become second nature to us. Each time we choose to act or think according to our new nature it becomes easier for us the next time. If we persevere, eventually we’ll know the joy of obedience and discover – to our utter amazement – that we are becoming more and more like Him.

In his book entitled Renovation of the Heart, Putting on the Character of Christ Dallas Willard writes: “Our character is that internal, overall structure of the self that is revealed by our long-run patterns of behavior and from which our actions more or less automatically arise. But character can be changed. And that, of course,is what spiritual formation in Christlikeness is about.”

To become more Christlike is our calling under God, and we can do it with the help of the Holy Spirit! As we cooperate with Him in our choices and our prayers and our Bible study and our right actions, over time we’ll be astounded by our progress, compared to where we started. As Paul promised: “A man reaps what he sows. … The one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:7-9).

“Jesus, Revealed in Me”

Christ, the Transforming Light, touches this heart of mine,

piercing the darkest night, making His glory shine.

Chorus:

Oh, to reflect His grace, causing the world to see,

love that will glow till others know Jesus, revealed in me.

Here, Lord, I bring my heart, my love, my strength, my will;

Cleanse me in every part, with all Thy Spirit fill.

Life is no longer mine, I yield it all to Thee;

Fill me that I may shine until Thy face I see.

Triumphant peace is mine, now Jesus reigns within;

He giveth joy divine, and victory over sin.

Words to this hymn by Gipsy Smith, copyright 1931