(Psalm 51:6 & John 8:32)
How do we become imitators of Christ and learn to live in His likeness? In short, this is accomplished through a process called sanctification, involving growth layers. God has already done His part; personal growth is our responsibility. Are we learning obedience through our suffering like Christ (Hebrews 5:7-10)? Are we growing in wisdom (Luke 2:52) and living a surrendered life (John 6:38) that increasingly reflects Christ’s likeness? It begins with honesty.
The essential starting point is letting go of the need to impress others, driven by their opinions (both criticism and compliments). The Holy Spirit acts as the plow for your heart. What does that mean? It means that purging the hard or stony places in our hearts is the Holy Spirit’s work, responding to our honesty and surrender to God’s process and purpose. These hard places include where we hide traumatic pains, disappointments, “why God” moments, insecurities, self-loathing, and low self-esteem.
These things must be exposed. It’s about understanding the truth of our motivations and the true alignment of our hearts.
(Matthew 4:4 & 2 Timothy 3:16)
The next step is making exchanges. Once our motivations are exposed, we often find that deception is at the root of every lie we believe. Whatever is revealed must be exchanged for biblical truth. Walking in obedience to the Lord, just as Christ did in His humanity, is the only way to tear down the lies we have conformed to believe. After identifying the true state of our heart, we must seek out the truth, allowing God to prune our hearts.
What happens during an exchange?
We offer God the true state of our heart (the good, the bad, and the ugly). When we intentionally seek the truth through the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit, we adopt a heart posture of surrender. God wants to show us His heart and ways, desiring that we become like Christ (Romans 8:29-30). We are not robots; we have free will and must willingly submit to His purpose, just as Christ demonstrated. This is where we purposely pursue learning from Christ. Exchanges are the aligning and agreement needed to live in the newness that Christ died for us to have.
(Ephesians 6:10 & James 1:2 and 4:6)
The final phase of personal development is two-fold.
This is the point where you have to put action behind your alignment & agreement with God. If we are truly imitating Christ then our fruit, actions and perspective will be in accordance to His will. There should be evidence of our newness. Authentic evidence.
At this stage we must live out the courage of our convictions. We no longer live aligned with the will of society or self but a willing obedience to God as He requires. This is where our free will is challenged. Do we have the courage to live out our convictions in humility? Will we obey regardless of how we feel about it? Will we remain aligned with the truth God has exposed and the exchanges we made through God’s Word? This is where the rubber meets the road and we face the reality of what we hold valuable. Our way or God’s truth. This final stage is when we practice living righteously.
Guts & Grace work hand in hand as we get honest, we make exchanges with God and move into having the guts to live like Christ in full humility.
Because authentic faith begins with honest examination.