Do you want to be more like Jesus? That’s good! That desire is called becoming Christ-like. And do you know you aren’t perfect—that you fall short of what you know God wants you to be? Congratulations. You’re just like every other honest Christian.
The world expects believers to be perfect, and if we’re not, they call us hypocrites. At the same time, we often place pressure on ourselves to live up to God’s holiness. When we fall short, shame creeps in, and that shame pushes some Christians into what I call the cover-up ditch. What is that? It’s when we pretend to be more holy than we are instead of letting God transform us honestly from the inside out.
God desires us to be conformed to the image of His Son. But first He called us into His family—before we were born, before the world was created, before we even knew Him. Ephesians 1:4–5 (NLT) says,
“Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family… and it gave Him great pleasure.”
God wants everyone in His family, but not everyone chooses Him. You did. So now that you belong to Him, He wants you blessed—and that blessing grows as you become more like Jesus. Romans 8:29 reveals this:
“For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son…”
Deep down, every believer wants to be pure and pleasing to God. That desire is part of your spiritual DNA. But the process of becoming Christ-like involves struggle. It means learning to deal with temptation, the pull of our flesh, and the old habits we carried into our new life.
Becoming like Jesus is a battleground filled with victories and defeats. Over time, as we learn to receive God’s help, we grow. But it can be hard to believe God is patient with us when we feel like we are falling so far short.
Yet God is patient. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 (NLT) says,
“May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.”
Not only is He patient, but He covers our flaws with His righteousness so we can be patient with ourselves while transformation happens.
The story of the prodigal son is a beautiful example. The son was disgusted with himself—he had rebelled, squandered everything, and felt completely unworthy. He intended to return not as a son but as a servant. But the father ran to him with compassion and immediately covered him with the best robe, representing the righteousness of Jesus.
Luke 15:20–22 (RSV) says,
“…his father saw him and had compassion, and ran… and said, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him…’”
God covers us the same way. He wraps us in His robe of righteousness so we don’t have to fake spirituality to please others. We are flawed, but He is working in us. Pretending to be perfect doesn’t make us Christ-like; it actually stalls transformation. We aren’t hypocrites when we fail—we are hypocrites when we pretend we don’t.
Forget the acting. Be sincere. Be transparent. Repent quickly when you blow it. Let Jesus cover you while you grow.
When you stop covering up—and let Him cover you—you’ll discover what real Christianity looks like. Transformation becomes genuine, steady, and joy-filled. You may feel flawed, but to Him, you are covered, treasured, and beautiful.
Isaiah 61:10 expresses it perfectly:
“I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For He has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness…”
Let Him dress you—and walk forward in confidence, one step closer to Jesus each day.
