The Concrete Form Of Goodness

Live as children of light … find out what pleases the Lord … “and Christ will shine on you”.
Ephesians 5:8,10,14

The question of how to live like Jesus Christ is easy to ask but hard to answer—and even harder to achieve.

And yet Christlikeness is a theme that dominates the writings of Paul (see Romans 8:29), Peter (see 2 Peter 1:4) and John (see 1 John 3:2).

Alexander Maclaren offers this helpful explanation of what Christlikeness is and how God expects us to achieve it.

WALK WITH ALEXANDER MACLAREN
“What is it that pleases Jesus Christ? His own likeness.

“Jesus Christ desires most that we be like him. That we are to bear his image is a comprehensive and at the same time specific way of defining Christian duty.

“And what is the likeness of Jesus Christ which is thus our supreme obligation to bear? We can put it all into two thoughts: suppression of the self-will and continual consciousness of obedience to the divine will.

“The life of Jesus Christ is the great example of these two qualities. His life contains within its narrow compass adequate direction for human life.

“The man or woman who has in his heart these thoughts—that the definition of virtue is pleasing Jesus Christ, that the concrete form of goodness is likeness to him in denying self and obeying God—needs no other goal to fill his life.”

WALK CLOSER TO GOD
Is it really possible to live a godly life in an ungodly world?

Absolutely!

Jesus modeled it for his disciples, then commanded, “Do as I have done” (John 13:15).

Paul modeled it for his churches, then exhorted, “Live as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).

Let your steps be guided today by the prayer that Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).