Jesus: Lord, King, and Example

If you’re following man, you’re not going to get anywhere in the eternal life. At best, you’ll get to the place where they are.

When Christians look to other people to dictate how they live their lives instead of looking to the Word and the example of Jesus Christ, that’s when we run into problems. It’s in Christ where our example lies. If we don’t have an example in a friend or family member about how to live a Spirit-filled Christian life, then we should look to Christ. Case closed. Glad that’s taken care of. Moreover, even in the case that a person is surrounded by Spirit-filled Christians, the example of Christ still reigns supreme. And even greater, the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth in terms of how to live even from each day to the next, each moment to the next. Therefore, we have no excuse. We have no reason to say, “I didn’t have someone to show me the way,” when the reality is, as a follower of Christ it is literally our responsibility to follow Christ. Follow in His footsteps. Don’t settle for ordinary living. Christ did the extraordinary. Be inspired to live greatly by the example that Christ set while he lived on this same planet earth.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This whole Spirit-filled life is all about grace. God’s ridiculous and precious grace. Without it, we wouldn’t have salvation in the first place. So when you ask yourself, “What can I do to better represent Jesus Christ?”, don’t think for a second that it’s your own strength that’s going to get you anywhere. God is in control and He is the one that provides us with the desire and the ability to live as He desires us to live.

So seriously ask yourself, or pray, “What can I do to be more like Jesus?” Maybe a lot of ideas come to mind or maybe it’s just that one thing that jumps out at you. All of us are a work in progress. All of us. We all need some work. And the glorious thing about God’s grace is that no matter how much work we need, God is able to understand where we are in our lives and bring us out of situations that we never thought we’d make it out of. Or change our hearts in ways we never thought they could be changed. Even when it’s tough for us, as humans to give in, He is just overjoyed by our willingness to be transformed by His power.

So if you don’t feel like you measure up to the standard Christ set on this earth, join the club. It’s no surprise. Jesus Christ is Lord. He lived a perfect life and died a perfect death and has now risen again. God desires, however, to take us to a new level of faith in His ability to redeem and restore us and forgive us of our mistakes. Be encouraged by God’s grace and His power to conform you into the image of His Son.