I’m Flawed But Becoming Christ-like!

Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

Except for the Lord Himself, nobody knows my flaws, imperfections, and shortcomings better than me. I suppose there are many people blinded to theirs because they don’t want to know them. For me, that’s not the case. I want to know mine. I don’t want to know them so I can feel bad about myself. I want to know them so that I can ask God to help me change them. I don’t want to bury my head in the sand. I want to become more and more like Jesus Christ.

Why do I want to become more and more like Jesus Christ? Is it so He will be happier with me? No! He already loves me wholeheartedly and unconditionally. He already died for me. What more could He do to prove His love. Romans 5:8 “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

Well then, why do I want to become more like Jesus? Is it so I can get into Heaven? No. His dying for my sins as a gift, and me receiving this gift from Him, has already taken care of that. I am looking forward to Heaven. I could not earn Heaven by being good enough. I could never be sinless—the thing that keeps people from Heaven. But He took my sins and washed them away. Jesus will do that for anyone who will receive Him into their heart and receive this gift. So, I don’t have to earn my way to Heaven. Jesus offered it to me as a gift and all I had to do was accept it by faith, and consider it precious. Romans 6:23 NLT says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the FREE GIFT of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

So again, why do I want to become more like Jesus each and every day? I do because the moment I profess Him to the world as my Lord and Savior, the world has an expectation of me, like it or not! They expect me to act like Jesus. They don’t care about the fact that they might sound and be acting like the devil. Because I said I belong to Jesus, they want to see me act perfect like Jesus. They listen to every word I say and watch everything I do. Is this fair? No. Is this hypocritical? Yes, but a reality for sure!

Many of us admit our flaws. This is good. What isn’t good is when we use the reality of our shortcomings and imperfections as an easy excuse as to why we could never be more like Jesus. Jesus desires us to change and be more like Him every day. He wants that effort. Not so we can get into Heaven and not so we can act self-righteous, but because we are the living example of Him to the world. We are the Jesus they don’t see. Romans 12:2 NLT exhorts and instructs us, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.”

When you give your life to Jesus, you are told in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that you are made a “new creature in Christ.” This verse goes on to say, “Your past life has passed away and your entire life ahead of you is now about to become new.” This is why Jesus used the term, “born again.” It’s as if you started your life over. Now you have God’s Holy Spirit living in you and helping you see God’s plan for life. You suddenly begin to see the world through His eyes and heart. The Holy Spirit and the power of God suddenly reside within you to help you change and become more like Jesus.

It’s no mystery we are flawed! But we have God’s Holy Spirit to help us become more like Jesus so that the world can see God’s love through us! This is what 2 Corinthians 3:18 instructs us to do saying, “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”

Jesus always represented His Father. He never misrepresented His Father. Let’s not cop-out and use our flaws and imperfections as an excuse to not change. His will is for us to become more like Him and represent Him the very best we can!

2 Peter 1:8 NLT “The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. “

In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt

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