To Follow Christ

Our lives are a result of what we have become in the depths of our being: what we call the heart, soul, or will. It is from this place inside of us that we see the world around us and interpret what reality is. It is also from this place that we make our choices. It is from here that we act and impact others.

Jesus' goal was to gather us and bring us back to a place where we could live under God's rule in His kingdom, here and now. By doing this, we would continually live under God's wisdom, power, and direction. What Jesus offers is a transformation of character; a change that occurs within us through an on-going relationship with Him and with the other believers around us.

This transformation will change who we are by changing our ideas, our beliefs, our feelings, our habits, our bodily tendencies, and our social relationships.

To "Follow Christ" means to re-arrange our lives (how we act, think and behave) so that our inner being (our heart) becomes like the heart of Christ. By focusing on becoming like Christ in our heart, our actions/our behavior will automatically be transformed as well. Jesus said "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit" (Mt. 7: 18). If our heart is like Christ's, our behavior will be like Christ's.

Christian discipleship is focused entirely on Jesus. It's goal is the transformation of a person's character into the character of Christ. This can only be accomplished by a person's dependence on God in Christ. It is our responsibility to obey Christ with the help of God's Holy Spirit within us.

We sometimes say things like: "I slipped up" or "I was caught off guard"; "That bad word just slipped out". That's really not true. What we witness in those times is a true reflection of what is in our hearts. It just slipped out before we had time to "dress up" what we were going to say or do. Our failure or inability to obey Jesus in difficult situation is never really a sudden failure. It is the surfacing of long-standing neglect within our heart. It is the result of not practicing the kind of habits that would enable us to act in the way that God desires. Because we are not practicing habits that will enable us to do what Jesus asks of us, we are unable to obey when the time comes.

The quality of our character will always touch others for good or for bad. The most important thing happening at any moment is the kind of person we are allowing ourselves to become. All our actions, thoughts, and feelings make up who we are. By allowing certain actions, thoughts, and feelings to continue (by dwelling on them), we are allowing ourselves to become a certain type of person. So if we want to become the kind of person God wants us to be, then we must intentionally develop certain habits and practice them. The future that God has planned for you will be built on the strength of character that you build when you are young.

God is more concerned with who we are in our hearts than how we behave because our behavior flows from our hearts. If we focus on our behavior, we can easily overlook the heart. However, if we focus on the heart, our behavior will take care of itself. Just as Jesus said, "every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit" (Matthew 7:17, NIV).

So our task in submitting ourselves to become like Christ is to cooperate with God in allowing Him to transform our hearts so that we take on the character of Christ. This is what Paul is describing in Philippians 2: 6-8:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! (NIV)

If our heart is transformed, then what comes out of our hearts will be transformed as well. We won't have to "try to love," we will do it naturally. Unloving thoughts and actions simply won't occur to us. We will automatically do what is right in God's sight.

In closing, I'm going to list off three things that are indispensible for our transformation into Christ-likeness:

1. Practicing the Presence of God

The first and most important thing that we must do is learn to keep God always before our minds.

Read Psalm 16:8-9.

I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure" (NIV).

We must learn how to practice God's presence in our lives. We do this by constantly directing and re-directing our minds to God. When we first begin, it will be a challenge to keep Him always in or on our minds because we have a habit of dwelling on other things. However, these are only habits, not the law of gravity; they can be broken.

How we do this is we choose to practice constantly re-directing our minds to God. Just decide to do it, and then do the best you can. You won't be able to do it all day, so don't feel bad when you can't do it. In fact, you may only remember a few times throughout your day at first. But the more you do this, the more you'll remember to do it. Just don't beat yourself up for not being good at it. In the evening, review how you did, and think of ways to do it better tomorrow. As we continue this practice, gently but persistently, we will soon find that Jesus and His words are automatically occupying our minds rather than the normal clutter and noise of the world. As we practice directing and re-directing our minds to God, the old habitual things that we think about and dwell on will gradually be replaced.

2. Scripture Memorization

Second, if we want to be transformed into the image of Christ, we have to know what we're being transformed into. The only way that is going to happen is if we spend time in God's Word. Our concentration on Jesus will be strengthened by reading and memorizing Scripture. I am convinced that the process of memorizing Scripture is more important than daily quiet times for the development of our character. Let me tell you why. When we have a daily quiet time, we often hurry through it. Sometimes we think back on what we have read throughout our day, but not always. But when we memorize Scripture, we put God's Word into our minds which allows us not only to meditate on it but to have it brought back up when it's needed. God's Word becomes an essential part of how we think about everything else in our lives. So the things we are faced with each day come to us in light of God's Word.

3. Solitude and Silence

Finally, we need to slow down and spend some time with God. Our culture pushes us to be busy. Because of this, we seldom take time to stop and simply be with God.

Read Psalms 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God" (NIV).

Two basic spiritual disciplines that are indispensable for our becoming like Christ are silence and solitude. In silence and solitude, we seek to get away from the noise and busyness. We are seeking to rid ourselves of the "corrosion of soul" that occurs from the constant interaction with the world around us. We come to God as we are, to be all alone with and before God: to discover that we too have a soul that needs to be nourished and nurtured.

Too many believers today serve without seeking times of silence and solitude. It is impossible to continually allow God's love and Word to flow out of us to others if we do not get away to allow God's love and Word to flow into us. The hectic pace of life today makes it extremely difficult to find time for God.

Time is Made, Not Found

Most people feel as if they don't have enough time. So spending time with God takes a back seat to other more pressing issues. However, the truth is that we cannot afford not to spend time with Him. It is only through God that we can change and become like Christ. We cannot do it on our own. And if we do not intentionally choose to spend time with Him and in His Word, transformation simply won't happen.

But the good news is that if we choose to do these things, we can overcome the bad habits we have come to live with. But we must rely on God's grace in our lives and work with His Holy Spirit by intentionally choosing to re-arrange our lives so our hearts can be transformed.