Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
 photo jesuslamb.jpgA forum for a community of people interested in discussing salvation in Jesus Christ by grace through faith
Add Reply
Mar 18th 2008 Stop Trying to Be Like Jesus
Topic Started: May 4 2009, 09:23 PM (89 Views)
lightninboy

If there is one thing I have learned in my life as a follower of Jesus is that it is impossible to live like Jesus. I mean, after all, He was God! He lived a perfect life! If He is my standard, I’m throwing in the towel right now.

But thankfully, we aren’t called to live like Jesus. We are called, however, to like Jesus. God does want us to love Jesus. Loving Him leads to obeying Him (John 14:15), which certainly allows us to reflect Him in our lives, but it will never make us exactly like Him (not even in heaven!). I think the best thing we can do is be ourselves for Jesus. So don’t try to be Jesus. Just be yourself for Jesus.

Biblically as well, we are not called to be like Jesus. We are just called to a part of Jesus (1 Cor 12-14). None of us can be like Jesus by ourselves. We can only be like Jesus in a community of others who are also trying to be themselves for Jesus. The Bible calls this living as the body of Christ. Those who are toes live like toes for Jesus, letting those who are elbows be elbows. No part should try to be the whole person.

So stop trying to be like Jesus. You can’t do it, and He doesn’t want you to try. There’s only one Jesus, and you are not Him. Instead, just like Jesus, and be yourself for Jesus.
No I will not, No I will not
Not go quietly
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
lightninboy

Comments:

1. David Annabell on 18 Mar 2008 at 8:23 pm #
Aarrgh! Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I have been practicing walking on water every day!

2. Jeremy Myers on 18 Mar 2008 at 8:31 pm #
David,
You make me laugh! If I ever make it to NZ, we will have to meet up!

3. Jeremy Myers on 18 Mar 2008 at 8:47 pm #
HEY! I was reading Vince Antonucci’s new book I Became a Christian and All I Got was this Lousy T-Shirt with my wife tonight, and here is what we read:
“If you invited me to your church this Sunday to speak, here’s how I think I’d start my message: ‘Stop trying to be like Jesus.’” (p. 107).
I really did not read this chapter in his book before I wrote this post. Vince must have looked into the future and read my mind when he was writing that book…ha ha. More likely I got this statement from one of Vince’s blog posts and didn’t realize I was plagiarizing him. Or, we were both just thinking the same thing.
Actually, though, that is about as far as the agreement went. Not that we were disagreeing, but he went a completely different direction than I went. He used the statement to write that when we try to be like Jesus, we fail because it’s not in our nature to be like Him. But when we abide in Jesus (he explains how in the book), we let Jesus live His life in and through us so that we do end up being like Jesus. Actually, it’s Jesus being like Jesus in us.
Yeah, that’s good too…

4. bullet on 20 Mar 2008 at 2:54 pm #
“Actually, it’s Jesus being like Jesus in us.”
That’s kind of creepy.

5. bullet on 20 Mar 2008 at 3:04 pm #
More on topic ,
I don’t think trying to be more like Jesus is a bad idea for anyone, even heathens like myself. The Jesus of the Bible is a lot like us. He bends some rules to help his mother. He loses his temper. He makes bad decisions. To me, that was always the beauty of Jesus - he wasn’t perfect. Trying to make him so is to set an impossible standard, one that just piles baggage on the shoulders of those who misunderstand. We can never be perfect, so we shouldn’t beat ourselves up or criticize others because we fail to be. The fact that we will never find the utopia, however, is no reason not to keep trying.
He was just a man. An exceptional man, to be sure. Even if you believe he was also God, he was still, while he was here, just a man. That was always such a wonderful idea to me.

6. Jeremy Myers on 20 Mar 2008 at 5:48 pm #
Bullet,
I always love it when you interact here! You make me think, and I love your perspective on things. I do, of course, think Jesus was more than just a man, but I also think that far too many of us (especially Christians) put way too much glitz on the man. I mean, it’s taboo in some circles to even think that Jesus might have gone to the bathroom or had body odor and bad breath.
Oh, and Vince didn’t actually say that in his book…the part you thought was kind of creepy. That was my summary of what I understood him to be saying, so I might be wrong…
No I will not, No I will not
Not go quietly
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · Jeremy Myers' TILL HE COMES blog · Next Topic »
Add Reply


View My Stats Msn bot last visit powered by  Bots Visit Yahoo bot last visit powered by  Bots Visit