There was a season during my high school career that the administration placed an easel on the landing of a stairway to the second floor of our building. Posters with brief, catchy sayings were placed on the easel for all of us to read when we went from one floor to another. Of all those messages, I can remember only one. This one has stayed with me for my lifetime. It read: “What you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you are saying.” That was my first encounter with this potent caution.
Jesus gave an indispensable truth about discipleship when He declared, “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master” (Matthew 10:24–25). The hymn writer Charles Gabriel captured this essential truth in his hymn that begins, “More like the Master I would ever be/ More of His meekness, more humility;/ More zeal to labor, more courage to be true,/ More consecration for work He bids me do.”
The most crucial element in a life of discipleship for Christ may well be not our words, but the crucial quality of a Christlike life. Of course, our witness must, of necessity, be verbal if others are to know what Christ has done and what they must do to be saved. But words without the authenticating impact of an example of what those words are aiming to accomplish will always carry a hollow ring. In short, an indispensable goal of being a disciple of Jesus involves becoming more Christlike ourselves.
The path toward Christlikeness involves self-denial. Given the sinful nature that is part of every person, becoming like Christ requires the denial of the attitudes and actions that have their roots in our sin nature. The Bible tells us of an occasion when Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24).
Forming Christlikeness
The path toward Christlikeness also involves yielding to the indwelling Holy Spirit. The fullness of the Spirit involves His control of a believer’s life. When in control, the Spirit will be at work forming Christlikeness in that believer.
This process will involve self-denial since our natural inclination is toward sin. When the Holy Spirit is controlling a life, a person will think like Christ, act like Christ and love like Christ. In short, the Spirit will be at work making us “more like the Master.”
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