Spiritual Formation: Following Jesus
Jesus told people to follow Him. Peter said that Jesus left an example of how to live our lives, and that we should follow in His footsteps (1 Peter 2:24). How can we be true disciples of Jesus? How can we actually be as if Jesus Himself inhabited our bodies and lived our lives? What would that look like? How can we truly follow Jesus? There are definite steps we can take.
Perhaps the first thing we can do is to sincerely and repeatedly pray to see Jesus just as He really is in order that we may have a clear understanding of what His life looked like. Not only should we see Him in the gospels, but we should also see Jesus as He has lived in the lives of many of His disciples in the past as well as the present. It may even be helpful to write out our prayer or to journal our thoughts regarding our desire to truly see Jesus as He is.
The next step to take is to use the means that God makes available to us that will allow us to see the reality of Jesus. In John 8:31-32, Jesus makes it clear that anyone who would be His disciple must abide or dwell in His word (John 8:31). This abiding or dwelling in Jesus’ words involves making His teachings the single greatest priority of our life. Whether through individual study, group studies, or corporate instruction, we will devote ourselves completely to the words of Jesus. Yet as James instructs us, we must not only hear the word of God, but obey it. Just as Jesus Himself was a living manifestation of the word of God in a human body, so should we be living manifestations of God’s word. It is not enough to read, study, and meditate upon the word of God, but it must impact our lives. We must incorporate the living word of God into our being. It must change our character and soul. Read through the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life intently and purposefully, noting the details descring the kind of person He was, and the things that He did.
The apostle Peter related his understanding of the work of Jesus to those gathered at Cornelius’ house in Acts 10:38 saying, “You know how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good… because God was with him.” By God’s amazing grace and infinite love, as disciples of Jesus, we are with Him. And with Jesus, we are constantly learning how to live our lives in God’s kingdom. The whole idea is that His life flows through our life. We learn to live our life as if Jesus were living it. It’s not necessarily that we always do everything He did, but that we are learning to be the kind of person Jesus.
It is important to remember that Jesus is likely more interested in our being a disciple of His than we actually are, and therefore, He is ready and willing to assist us as we seek to follow Him. We also need to seriously examine the lives of others who are true disciples of Jesus. There are many fine examples of Christ living in the lives of Christians whom we know. Talk to them. Ask them questions about their walk with Christ. Learn from them.
Perhaps the first thing we can do is to sincerely and repeatedly pray to see Jesus just as He really is in order that we may have a clear understanding of what His life looked like. Not only should we see Him in the gospels, but we should also see Jesus as He has lived in the lives of many of His disciples in the past as well as the present. It may even be helpful to write out our prayer or to journal our thoughts regarding our desire to truly see Jesus as He is.
The next step to take is to use the means that God makes available to us that will allow us to see the reality of Jesus. In John 8:31-32, Jesus makes it clear that anyone who would be His disciple must abide or dwell in His word (John 8:31). This abiding or dwelling in Jesus’ words involves making His teachings the single greatest priority of our life. Whether through individual study, group studies, or corporate instruction, we will devote ourselves completely to the words of Jesus. Yet as James instructs us, we must not only hear the word of God, but obey it. Just as Jesus Himself was a living manifestation of the word of God in a human body, so should we be living manifestations of God’s word. It is not enough to read, study, and meditate upon the word of God, but it must impact our lives. We must incorporate the living word of God into our being. It must change our character and soul. Read through the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life intently and purposefully, noting the details descring the kind of person He was, and the things that He did.
The apostle Peter related his understanding of the work of Jesus to those gathered at Cornelius’ house in Acts 10:38 saying, “You know how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good… because God was with him.” By God’s amazing grace and infinite love, as disciples of Jesus, we are with Him. And with Jesus, we are constantly learning how to live our lives in God’s kingdom. The whole idea is that His life flows through our life. We learn to live our life as if Jesus were living it. It’s not necessarily that we always do everything He did, but that we are learning to be the kind of person Jesus.
It is important to remember that Jesus is likely more interested in our being a disciple of His than we actually are, and therefore, He is ready and willing to assist us as we seek to follow Him. We also need to seriously examine the lives of others who are true disciples of Jesus. There are many fine examples of Christ living in the lives of Christians whom we know. Talk to them. Ask them questions about their walk with Christ. Learn from them.
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