Stop Underselling the Possibility of Christlikeness

How does a Christlike man or woman look?

That’s a question I want you to think about for a second. Try to answer it in your head. How does a Christlike man or woman look?

We all probably have something that comes to mind, and whatever that is, it’s really important. If you’re a Christian, whatever you think Christlikeness is, that’s a vision of life to which you aspire. That’s what you want for yourself, so yes it’s important — and it’s absolutely vital — that such a vision is formed by the Bible. How does the Bible say Christlikeness looks?

In this book, Renovation of the Heart, Dallas Willard lists out 11 passages in the New Testament that he calls “Scriptural high points.” These are go-to passages that are “descriptions of what the apprentices of Jesus are to be like.”

Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 13, Ephesians 4–6, Galatians 5, and many more.

But Willard says, if we’re honest, we read these passages with a sense of hopelessness and guilt. We read that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control … and we walk away discouraged because we think we’ll never actually be like that. My exhortation this morning is to stop it. 

Stop that way of thinking. Stop underselling the Christian life. Stop belittling the power of the Holy Spirit and what he is able to do in your life from the inside-out. 

Church, at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. You are saints of God. You are the brothers and sisters of Jesus. And you are like him. You are becoming more like him. You can become more like him. 

And this reminds us of our need to confess our sins. …