The Doorpost: Becoming like Christ

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.

1 John 3:2

The verse above reveals the key to becoming like Christ—seeing Him as He is. The way we think and act shows what we believe Jesus is like. Any way we are not like Him is because we don’t completely know Him. The more fully we know Him, the more we become like Him. It’s unavoidable.

Becoming more like Christ does not depend on trying harder or keeping a list of rules. It depends on loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:29-30, Luke 10:27). It means having His Word in our heart and letting His Spirit fill us (Ephesians 5:18-20, Colossians 3:16-17).

In Philippians 3:7-8a, the Apostle Paul says, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

In this life we grow in Christlikeness as we love Him and give ourselves to knowing Him more deeply. We don’t yet know exactly what we will be like in heaven, but we know that we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is.