When people look your way what do they see? Do they see a Christian? Do they know they see a Christian? In 2 Corinthians 3:2,3 Paul says:
You yourselves are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on the tablets of human hearts.(NIV)
Paul is telling the Corinthians to be a letter of recommendation from Jesus. To act in such a way that everyone notices Jesus living in them. To act in such a way that nobody even questions if they are Christians. Paul wants them to act and be Christlike.
This is what Jesus says about the matter in John 14:12,13. He says:
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to Father.(NIV)
Jesus says that anyone who believes in him can do things even greater than what he did in his short time on earth. How cool is that! Jesus believes we can be like him. So how do we be Christlike?
Back in the Bible days there were Pharisees. They were basically the preachers of the day. Jesus didn't approve of them because they just preached about the Lord because they liked getting praise for seeming "holy". They were all show. Jesus told some Pharisees to get their acts together:
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. (Matthew 23:25,26, NIV)
Jesus wasn't worried about their dish cleaning habits. He was telling them not to just preach the word of God to get praise. He was telling them to actually practice what they preach. If they they did that they wouldn't have had to act at all. Jesus said in Luke 6:45 that:
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the overflow of his heart the mouth speaks.(NIV)
Fill your heart with God pleasing things. Read the Bible and fill your heart with the word of God everyday. Listen to God pleasing music. I don't mean listen to hymns everyday, there are plenty of Christian bands out there. That's the whole reason I have the Christian bands gadget on my blog, to show people that there are some pretty awesome Christian artists out there. Rid your life of things that you feel are keeping you apart from God, for example, friends that tempt you to do ungodly things. If you do this then you are working towards being Christlike.
You yourselves are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on the tablets of human hearts.(NIV)
Paul is telling the Corinthians to be a letter of recommendation from Jesus. To act in such a way that everyone notices Jesus living in them. To act in such a way that nobody even questions if they are Christians. Paul wants them to act and be Christlike.
This is what Jesus says about the matter in John 14:12,13. He says:
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to Father.(NIV)
Jesus says that anyone who believes in him can do things even greater than what he did in his short time on earth. How cool is that! Jesus believes we can be like him. So how do we be Christlike?
Back in the Bible days there were Pharisees. They were basically the preachers of the day. Jesus didn't approve of them because they just preached about the Lord because they liked getting praise for seeming "holy". They were all show. Jesus told some Pharisees to get their acts together:
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. (Matthew 23:25,26, NIV)
Jesus wasn't worried about their dish cleaning habits. He was telling them not to just preach the word of God to get praise. He was telling them to actually practice what they preach. If they they did that they wouldn't have had to act at all. Jesus said in Luke 6:45 that:
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the overflow of his heart the mouth speaks.(NIV)
Fill your heart with God pleasing things. Read the Bible and fill your heart with the word of God everyday. Listen to God pleasing music. I don't mean listen to hymns everyday, there are plenty of Christian bands out there. That's the whole reason I have the Christian bands gadget on my blog, to show people that there are some pretty awesome Christian artists out there. Rid your life of things that you feel are keeping you apart from God, for example, friends that tempt you to do ungodly things. If you do this then you are working towards being Christlike.
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