We have all heard the term “Christ-like.” I know, as Christians, we have all said we want to be “Christ-like” and thus do those things we feel the Bible tells us to do to be like Christ. We read verses like Philippians 4:8 that tell us what types of things to think about (“whatever is pure, holy…think on these things”). We read the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, in Matthew 5 where Jesus describes truly blessed people. Jesus describes what and how powerful our faith should be in Luke 17 (“if you have faith as small as a mustard seed…”). These are just few things that came to my mind when I thought about what being Christ-like truly meant. I don’t know about you, but sometimes it seems like a daunting task to be like Christ. Yes, I know we are made perfect through His blood, but we are called to walk a life that embodies and demonstrates to others we are followers of Jesus Christ, Savior of the world. So what do we do? We study the scriptures to find out all we can about Christ and His behavior and try to emulate Him. Again, a daunting list of seemingly impossible traits emerge, or at least traits difficult to achieve multiple times or more than once…..to me. Then, I read a statement from Beth Moore. This statement wasn’t even the main idea in the paragraph, much less on the page, in the chapter or even the book, but it said so much in my heart and soul.
“We are never more Christ-like than when we forgive.”
Freedom….joy….hope surrounded that statement for me. Why? Because I can forgive. I may not always want to, but I can do it. I may not know how to have faith strong enough to move a mountain, but I can forgive my mother. I may not always think about the right things, but I can forgive my friend for hurting my feelings. I may not understand what it completely means to be blessed by being pure in heart, but I can forgive a man that broke my heart. If I asked you to describe Jesus using one word, what would it be? Savior? Yes, because we are forgiven. If I asked you to use one word to describe what it meant to be like Christ, what would it be? I can’t heal like He did. I can’t save the rest of the world. I can’t be perfect like He was. But you know what? I can forgive others as He forgave me.
Think about this….“We are never more Christ-like than when we forgive.”
