A rather large woman went to an exercise and diet clinic. The first thing the supervisor did was to draw a silhouette on a mirror, in the shape she wished to become. As she stood in front of the mirror, she bulged out over the silhouette. The instructor told her:
“our goal is for you to be conformed to this shape.”
For many weeks the woman exercised and dieted. Each week she would stand in front of the mirror but her volume, while decreasing, still overflowed. So she continued to exercise and diet more rigidly. Finally, one happy day, she stood in front of the mirror and found she was CONFORMED to the image of the silhouette.
GOD has set a silhouette for His children.
He has drawn the IMAGE OF CHRIST and seeks to fit us to that image.
Romans 8:29 tells us God’s purpose is for us
“to be CONFORMED to the image of His Son”
In Ephesians 4:13 Paul makes it even more awesome.
He says we are to become
“a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”
or as the Amplified puts it
“nothing less
than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection”
CHRISTLIKENESS! What a GOAL!
It is so easy to become conformed to this world, but it takes a lot of time and effort to be conformed to the image of God’s Son. We need to ask ourselves daily if we are striving towards that goal and we SHOULD be seeing a gradual change as we read His Word, seek His will and follow His direction.
Is complete conformity to Christ possible?
Not in this lifetime, but we know that
“When He appears
WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM
for we shall see Him as He is”
1 John 3:2
and in Psalm 17:15
“I shall be satisfied when I awake with THY LIKENESS”
MEANWHILE we SHOULD be seeing a measure of CONSTANT GROWTH towards that goal – towards Christlikeness.
The more the Potter molds us into His image,
the more we will feel like
A SQUARE PEG IN A ROUND HOLE,
because this world is NOT our home.
We are citizens of heaven
and our hearts belong there.
Mr Anon says:
# If you have EVER been closer to the Lord than you are at this moment, you are a
backslider.
# To be much LIKE Christ, spend much time WITH Christ.
# So live that people who remember YOU will remember JESUS CHRIST
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How marvelous! We hear all of the commercials telling us to be like the world, but God is doing something much greater! We do not need advice, encouragement, or self-help remedies offered by the masters of such things… we need to be transformed into the image of God’s Son! A work done only by God Himself! Great words, good friend!
Isn’t it amazing that the omnipotent, creator, perfect God would *WANT* to transform me – a sinful, created, rebellious being – into His own image???!!!
It is HIS work and HIS alone, but the more we feed on His Word and communicate with Him, the more we will be transformed.
What an amazing God!
Before the world be.gan our Lord was so gracious to us… He chose to save us so that we might be like Him…what a wonderful privilege it is become more like Him!
A wonderful privilege indeed! An incredible privilege! To be ‘like Christ’ – conformed to His image . . . I am tearing up as I think of His great love for me.
What an amazing God!
To be conformed to the image of Christ is an impossibility in our flesh. Only the Holy Spirit can contour us for He sees us as we are in the mirror of God’s Word, even when we cannot see ourselves. Praise the Lord He has not left us clueless and helpless He is our Comforter and comes alongside to cheer and to guide in the course of our changing from glory to glory.
Good analogy. Thanks for sharing meetingintheclouds.
Besides the name of Jesus, ‘Christlikeness’ must be the sweetest word in our vocabulary. It is mind-blowing to think that the omnipotent, creator God – even before He laid the foundations of the world – knew ME! He chose me to be conformed to the image of His Son! Now, He continues His work in me, molding me, and preparing me for an eternity in His very presence.
What a truly, truly, amazing God!
We are being conformed to Christ. Love your analogy of the silhouette in the mirror. It helps to bring the truth alive. Thank you.
Thanks admin.
We are one day closer – and what a wonderful day that will be!
We serve an amazing God!